Sakura's Heartache
by VeryBoredSoul
Summary: Sasuke and Sakura have been best friends since forever. The thing is, Sakura's in love with Sasuke and he's completely oblivious!
1. Chapter 1

**I know I should be working on my other two stories, but this popped into my head a few nights ago and I just wanted to write it down and see if anybody liked it, so here's my story, Sakura's Heartache.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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><p>Sakura woke up with a start. Glancing at her clock as she put on a robe, she saw that it was around three in the morning. She hurried to the door that was still being pounded on ferociously. There was only one person who would come this early in the day without bothering to call beforehand.<p>

Opening the door, she immediately stepped back so he could come in. Yeah, that's right; Sasuke Uchiha was at her doorstep at three in the morning, jealous? Well you shouldn't be. This seemed to be happening a lot ever since Sasuke started dating _her_, Karin to be exact.

Sakura took Sasuke to the couch. He didn't want anything to eat or drink, so Sakura sat down beside him, and just waited for him to begin. Sasuke and Karin have been dating for almost four months. Every other week it seemed like those two got into a fight which led to Sasuke coming to Sakura to talk, although vent would be a better term for it. And Sakura would let him, listening patiently and offering ways to solve the problem.

Sakura sympathized with everything Sasuke was saying; everything from Karin forgetting to buy tomatoes at the market to her refusing to have sex with him after an especially troublesome day. As Sasuke continued to vent, Sakura was slowly calming him down. Patting his back, or saying something that would put a lid on his anger. She was the only one who could do that, after all they had been friends since they were in preschool. She knew him better than he knew himself sometimes.

"Thanks for listening, Sakura." Sasuke said. "It must be hard for you to be up this early plus listening to all my relationship problems."

Sakura smiled at Sasuke. "It's no problem for me. After all, we are best friends. We kind of always fall back on each other, no matter what."

Sasuke smiled a genuine smile, one especially saved for his best friend, Sakura. Then he nodded and leaned back into the couch, relaxing his posture.

While he did this, Sakura sat, thinking of a way to help her friend. Karin had yelled at Sasuke not even twenty minutes before he came to her place. It was something about him being an emotionless asshole. Sakura knew this fight will last for a while if they didn't patch it up soon. After all, Sasuke don't like being reminded of how he can't display his emotions really well.

Sakura mentally sighed and guessed that Karin hasn't figured out Sasuke little physical ticks – like a small smile, a laugh, or a brush of fingers could mean so much regarding his emotions, or rather what he is feeling at any moment.

Sakura sighed out loud this time, as she figured out a way that could end the fight pretty quickly. She turned toward Sasuke and suggested maybe he should hug her as he explains why he is the way he is. And if she accepts it and apologies for what she said, give her a kiss on the cheek, or even the lips.

Sasuke seemed thoughtful for a moment before thanking Sakura. He would go do it in the morning, or rather in a few hours. Sasuke then got up from Sakura's couch. Sakura followed and went to open the door so he could leave.

As Sakura shut the door behind Sasuke, she turned around and leaned against the door for support. Rubbing her temples, she whispered to herself, "Why do I help him if it hurts me so much...?"

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><p><strong>Ok, Sasuke's OOC towards Sakura because she HAS been his BEST friend since they were little, so he's a little more unguarded around her.<strong>

**So, what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Should I continue it or not? Leave a review and you shall get a cookie! **

**Critiques and Comments are Welcomed!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! Here's a cookie for all of you that reviewed ^_^ I guess I should tell you that all the characters are 22 or 23 years of age, sorry I forgot to mention that before...Hehe. Well here's the next chapter of Sakura's Heartache.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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><p>Sakura clapped as the band ended their set. She loved coming to the café on Saturdays. It was time to relax, forget about everything, and Saturdays were the days the best bands played. A new band that she hadn't heard yet had just gotten up on stage. After listening to a few of their songs, she decided that she liked this band. Especially the drummer. He was super cute. With blond hair, blue eyes, and tan skin, how could she not think he was cute?<p>

Sipping down the rest of her coffee, Sakura headed over to the counter to get a refill. Tenten was working tonight, so Sakura usually got free refills. Tenten smiled once she saw Sakura and her empty cup.

"Alright, Sakura, I know that look. Who's the major eye candy tonight?" Tenten asked, while refilling Sakura's coffee cup.

"Don't get too excited Tenten." Sakura had said this because she saw the hopeful gleam in her friend's chocolate eyes. "He's the drummer, the blond one on right now." Tenten glanced over at the stage upon hearing Sakura's words.

"Cute enough to make you forget about...you know who?" Tenten asked, hopeful again.

"No, like you, I prefer dark haired men...although unlike you I prefer that mine kept their hair short." Tenten laughed at Sakura's comment and Sakura felt relieved. After all, Sakura knew that Tenten liked Neji, but she didn't know how Tenten would react to her hinting at it in public.

"Okay, so the drummer's not cute enough to date...but I think you caught his attention anyway...he's coming over here right now." Sakura glanced over her shoulder and saw that Tenten was right. His band must be done playing their set.

"Hello, ladies. Do you mind if I interrupt to order a coffee?" Asked the cute drummer boy. He had sat on the stool right next to Sakura's. Tenten managed a smile and took his order while Sakura took the opportunity to get a closer look.

Truth be told, drummer boy looked way more stunning up close. Sakura now saw that he had perfect white teeth and lean muscles under that tan skin. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief and...kindness? And, Sakura noted wryly, she had missed his unusual birthmarks on his cheeks that resembled whiskers.

"Here's your coffee. Your band has a great sound." Tenten commented as she handed the cup to the drummer.

"Thanks, although our parents like to think of it as 'loud noise'." Sakura smiled at that and the drummer boy looked at her. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, by the way."

Sakura looked somewhat surprised that he told her his name but answered with, "Sakura Haruno and my friend that has just taken off so we could talk is Tenten, no last name."

Naruto smiled at her comment about Tenten. "Sakura...hmm...that suits you." Then he glanced at her hair, giving her an indication of why he said that. She laughed then, because she sometimes forgot that her hair color was unusual to non-locals.

"By the way, to answer your unspoken question, yes it is natural and not dyed." Naruto laughed self-consciously because that was exactly what he was thinking. But then he stopped suddenly with a look of curiosity on his face. Sakura glanced over her shoulder to see what he was looking at, only to find Sasuke and Karin coming towards them.

_Great_, Sakura thought. _Every time I seem to talk to a guy, Sasuke appears and reminds me of why I'm not really interested in them..._

"Hey, dobe, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked when Karin and he had gotten within hearing distance.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and replied, "Who are you?"

"Geez, dobe, I knew you had ADHD and weren't the brightest note in the measure, but don't tell me that you have memory loss too."

It was after Sasuke said 'measure' that Naruto's face changed to one of recognition. "Teme! I haven't seen you since band camp five years ago!"

_Band camp? Five years ago?_ Sakura thought. _Oh, that's right. That had been the camp that Sasuke had returned from with a piercing in his left ear. Mikoto had _not _been happy about that._ Sakura even remembered that Sasuke had his license taken away until he turned 18 later that summer.

"Sakura?" It was Sasuke's smooth voice that pulled her from her thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry I wasn't listening...heh."

Sakura saw her smile, yeah that's right _her_ smile, before Sasuke said, "I asked if you and the dobe would like to go to the Hyuga's party with Karin and me."

"Oh...um...thanks but I can't. I got to study for some exams Monday." _Plus, I don't think I can handle seeing you with Karin all night. Even if there are other people around. _Sakura thought sadly.

"Alright, then it looks like it's just us three! My set's over for tonight so we can leave now if you guys want!" Naruto said enthusiastically. Karin nodded in agreement.

Sasuke told Sakura to have a good Sunday before leaving with Naruto and Karin.

_I hope I don't have an early morning visitor tomorrow_. Sakura said to herself as she watched those three walk away. For she had seen the way Karin looked when Sasuke had asked her and Naruto to come with them. And she had also seen the look Karin gave her when Sasuke smiled at her. _Yup, there's going to be and argument tonight. I just hope he can solve it himself this time._

Sighing, Sakura turned around on her stool only to see a hot chocolate with extra whip cream and sprinkles. She smiled at Tenten who waved her off when she tried to pay for it. "Looks like you need it tonight. I'll pay, don't worry."

Sakura smiled gratefully at her friend before drinking down the warm substance.

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><p><strong>So I got to explain a few things real quick. First, Tenten likes Neji but only Sakura and Hinata know so far. Next, the band camp isn't one like an orchestra or strings or drum line kind of deal. It's like a band with a lead guitarist, bass guitarist, drummer, and singer. Naruto had gone there to work on his drumming, Sasuke had gone there to work on his...well I'll reveal that one later. Last, they were also both 17 when they had gone to this camp. *It was held before Sasuke's birthday. A.K.A. the license deal*<strong>

**Well that's it. Now I shall promise hot chocolate with extra whip cream and sprinkles if all shall review! :D**

**Critiques and Comments are Welcomed!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to all who reviewed! Here's your hot chocolate with whip cream and sprinkles ;D Sorry for the long wait between updates, but I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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><p>"Sakura! Wait up! I need to talk to you!" Ino yelled from the cafeteria.<p>

Sakura paused to wait for her friend to catch up to her. When Ino did approach, Sakura saw that she was smiling and had an unusual gleam to her eyes.

"Alright Sakura, you know Sai and I have been dating for several weeks now, correct? Well, he suggested a double date! He said it would be like a blind date for you, but it won't be as awkward because we will be there too! So I want you to come over tonight to get ready. They're going to pick us up around nine pm."

Sakura smiled at her friends antics. "Ino, stop getting ahead of yourself. Who would this blind date be with? And why are you asking me on such short notice?"

Ino blinked twice, as if trying to remember if she had already revealed this information to her friend. "Why, it would be with one of Sai's friends from the art institute he attends! And, I'm asking you on short notice because I already told Sai you would, and if I had asked you earlier than this, you would have told Sai you didn't want to go anymore. Plus, I know how much you hate backing out at the last second, so ha! You can't back out now!"

Sakura shook her head and sighed. Sometimes, Ino was just too much.

"Well, alright fine. I'll come to your dorm room tonight around 8:00pm to get ready and make sure I'm 'presentable' enough for this guy." Sakura emphasized the word presentable to make it sound sarcastic, but her sarcasm was lost on Ino.

"GREAT! I'm glad you are finally deciding to get out and about!" Ino smiled but then noticed her friend's silence. "Sakura? You really don't have to go if you don't want to. I didn't tell Sai you were going yet. In fact, I knew you would probably refuse but I was going to wait until after classes to tell him your definite answer."

Sakura smiled. Sometimes Ino was more bipolar than a pregnant woman with triplets. "Ino, its fine. I'll go. After all, everyone keeps saying that I need to get out and forget about Sasuke. I think tonight sounds like a great time to get out anyways."

Ino sighed in relief. "Okay, I'll believe you this time, Sakura. But I better see you tonight at 8:00pm, or you're going to get it! Now hand shake promise me you are going to be there." Ino held out her hand waiting for Sakura to hold out hers.

Sakura laughed and waved to her friend. "I got to go. This is my next class. Bye, Ino!" Sakura slipped inside the classroom before her friend made her do their dorky hand shake thing.

-8:00pm-

Sakura stood in front of Ino's dorm room door. She has been standing there for five minutes debating whether to bail out or not. Sure, she wanted to go, but on the other hand, she wasn't sure about a blind date. Especially with one of Sai's friends. I mean, she wanted to go on the date, but she didn't want it to be a lame date. And what if Sai's friend didn't like her anyways?

Ino opening the door saved Sakura from the major headache she was getting from over-thinking.

"Sakura! You made it! But, why didn't you knock? Oh, never mind. Just get in here. We got to do your hair and makeup!" Ino pulled Sakura inside while Sakura rubbed her temples.

"Ino? What's wrong with my hair and makeup?" Sakura asked, sitting down in front of Ino's make-shift makeup mirror.

"Well, truth be told Sakura, you look like a clown. You have on too much eye shadow and blush. And your hair isn't even done! It's in a ponytail. So we got work to do before Sai and his friend show up."

Sakura sighed and sat back as Ino began furiously rubbing her make up off.

"So who am I going with anyways? I would like a name so then I don't feel like a complete dork when Sai and him show up." Sakura started, after Ino finished taking her make-up off.

"Truth be told Sakura," Ino stated while reapplying Sakura's blush, then eyeliner, "I don't even know his name. Sai told me he was a friend of his, but he never got around to telling me his name. Just that he is amazing with pottery."

Sakura laughed, almost causing Ino to poke her in the eye with the eyeliner. "That's great." She said bitterly. "Not only am I going with an aspiring artist, but he also happens to delve into the one kind of art that I hate. Pottery."

"See this is why I didn't want to ask you earlier in the week. You would have just said no for that one reason! But now it's too late. Sai just texted me, he's going to get his friend then come over here." Ino said, now taking out Sakura's ponytail and brushing out any knots.

"Seriously, Sakura, why don't you like pottery anyways? I mean, the only reason I could think of was because Kiba made you eat some clay when we were juniors in high school. And it's not like you died or anything."

"That's missing the point, Ino. Yes, that is why I don't like pottery, however Kiba was a jerk and clay tastes REALLY bad. Plus," Sakura added, looking at her nails, "I did never make a pot on a potter's wheel (1) that actually made it past the greenware stage. (2)"

Ino laughed at Sakura's frustration while she finished dressing her hair. "Alright Sakura, what do you think about this style?"

Sakura looked at the mirror after Ino had moved. Her make-up looked like it was barely there and her hair was pulled up into a higher ponytail and curls were coming out of the elastic.

"I guess it looks better...but why the curls? Did you forget to tell me this guy I'm meeting is some babe or something?" Sakura asked, joking with her friend.

Ino laughed and the girls both heard knocking on Ino's dorm room door. "That would be Sai and his friend. Try and be nice, Sakura. Oh, and don't be all depressed because he likes pottery." Ino added before opening the door.

Sakura stood up and grabbed her purse when she heard Ino greet them both. Sai and his friend had already entered the room and his friend was staring a little too intently for Sakura's liking.

"Sakura, meet my friend, Deidara."

To tell you the truth, Sakura thought he looked like a masculine version of Ino, but she wasn't going to say that out loud.

"Hello, my name is Sakura, as I'm sure you already know."

He smiled, it was not very friendly.

_So much for a nice blind date._ Sakura thought wryly.

"Well, if everyone's ready to go, let's get this show on the road!" Ino exclaimed, noticing the awkward silence between Sakura and Deidara.

"Right...let's go, hm." Deidara finally spoke as they headed out the door.

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><p><strong>Alright, so their date is going to be in the next chapter. How many people saw who the friend was going to be? Be honest now :)<strong>

**1 – A type of method used to make bowls and stuff by potters**

**2 - Clay that has been shaped but not yet fired in a kiln.**

**Comments and Critiques are Welcomed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again! :) I was really happy to see more people adding this story to their story alert, and that just made my day so thank you to everyone who commented and added this story somehow :)**

**Anyways, on to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

_Man, this is a bummer,_ thought Sakura. _First, I find out that Sai and Deidara drove to Ino's place separately. Then Ino decides that she wants to ride in Sai's car, which can only fit two people. So I get stuck riding with Deidara, the creeper. And to top off the night, we lost Sai and Ino driving to our restaurant! This date is turning out to be just great!_

"So," Deidara said, breaking Sakura from her thoughts. "Did Ino happen to mention where they had reservations at, hmm?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, although I just texted her and asked. Hopefully she will text me back soon."

Deidara nodded and kept driving down Main Street.

"I'm really sorry about this." Sakura said after two songs had gone by on the radio.

"Why?" Deidara asked before Sakura could say anything else. "It is not your fault that I lost them in traffic. Of course, it would be like Sai to ditch a double date...Please don't be offended, but is that the way Ino is too?"

Sakura was quiet for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I haven't been on a double date with her for a while, but back in high school she did it all the time. I can't believe I didn't remember that until just now..."

Deidara smiled. "Any answer from Ino?"

"No, none yet."

"I think we better stop waiting. I can take you back to Ino's if you want me to."

Sakura considered this before deciding that she has been too harsh on Deidara. He wasn't too much of a creeper. "Nah, let's go and eat. I'm starving. Heh...that is, if you want to."

"That's fine with me. I know this great restaurant that's open late and you don't need reservations to get in." Deidara said as he did a U-turn to go the right way.

The rest of the drive there was silent except the radio.

As they parked, Deidara told her that it was a Greek Cuisine and that he hoped she liked it.

They got seated and ordered their drinks. Sakura recognized some of the food choices but she remembered that she didn't like half of them. She decided to trust Deidara again.

"So what's good? I'm not too familiar with good Greek Cuisine." Sakura asked.

Deidara looked at his menu. "What do you like; a lot of meat, soup, or vegetables?"

"Um, does all of it sound good help at all?" Deidara laughed as Sakura smiled.

"Alright, a little bit of everything, hmm. How about you try the _Psarosoupa_? It's a fish soup with lot of vegetables and even contains olive oil."

Sakura laughed as Deidara said olive oil. "Nice try on impressing me, but even _I_ know that a lot of Greek Cuisine contains olive oil."

Deidara blushed lightly but tried hiding it by burying his nose in his menu. Sakura ordered while pretending not to notice the flush on Deidara's cheeks. Then Deidara ordered as they finally got their drinks.

"So Sakura..." Deidara said to break the silence. "I've heard from a little bird that you don't like clay, hmm?"

Sakura sighed. "No, I don't like that particular kind of art. No offense. It's just I have never liked it since this incident in high school happened..."

"Oh? Does it have to do with...Kiba? Or that you can't make a wheel pot?" Sakura blushed as Deidara laughed. Apparently some blonde pig spilled the beans to Sai, who told his friend.

"Don't be embarrassed, hmm. I'm just teasing. If you really wanted to learn I could show you how to make a wheel pot that would actually make it to being, well, a pot." Sakura nodded and thanked him for the offer but didn't accept it. She could tell when someone was asking for a second date. But she wasn't sure if she liked Deidara that way yet.

Things were quiet after that. Both of them finished their food and Deidara proceeded in taking Sakura to Ino's place.

"Thank you for dinner. I'm glad I took your suggestion. It was really yummy." Sakura told Deidara as they approached Ino's place.

"Any time, hmm. Hey, isn't that Sai's car?"

Sakura looked and sure enough there was Sai's car parked right next to Ino's. "Want to go give them hell for ditching us?" Deidara asked Sakura.

"Nah, you can give Sai hell when you two are alone. Trust me as soon as Sai leaves, Ino is going to get it." Deidara laughed and told her not to kill Ino 'because that would be a bad thing to do.'

Sakura thanked him for the advice and told him that maybe she would see him around sometime. Then she grabbed her stuff, left his car, and went up to Ino's room. She knocked on the door before entering. Luckily, Ino heard the knock and her and Sai had stopped making out.

Sai looked uncomfortable as Sakura glared at Ino. He suggested that he should go and Sakura agreed. He left while Ino felt Sakura's death-glare gaze return to her.

"Why the heck did you leave me with Deidara!" Sakura yelled at her supposed friend after Sai shut the door.

"Look, I have an excellent explanation..." But Sakura wouldn't let her finish.

"Then tell me and DON'T beat around the bush!"

"Alright, well Sai said that Deidara would continue acting all creepy and weird if he was around other people, because that's just the way he is. He acts more normal around one person than he does in a group. So we ditched you guys and came back here. Obviously, you didn't care too much because you guys either went out to eat or to make-out with each other!"

"INO! You know I'm not like that!" Sakura yelled at Ino for her make-out statement.

"Well, how do I know? Maybe you just put up that 'I'm SO in love with Sasuke that I won't DATE other guys but I'll FOOL around with them' act so you can get pity from our friends..."

Sakura's mouth dropped to the floor as Ino finished her statement. "I can't believe you just said that..." Sakura whispered as she turned and walked out of Ino's room. She started running down the hall and down the stairs to her car. She heard Ino's ring tone start buzzing on her phone but she didn't answer it.

Sakura got to her car and sat there trying to stop the tears before they came. She knew Ino would come after her soon though, so she turned on her car and started driving back to her apartment.

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**Will Ino apologize to Sakura? If she does will Sakura forgive Ino? What will happen next? Lol, my sad attempt at suspense. Well here's the next chappie for you all! Hope you enjoyed! Merry Christmas everyone! And if I don't get the next one up by January 1, Happy New Years!**

**Critiques and Comments Welcomed!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Back again! :D Enjoy the next installment of Sakura's Heartache!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, 'cause there's no way on EARTH that I could make the series as intense as Masashi Kishimoto!**

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><p>Sakura walked into her apartment without bothering to turn on the lights. She plopped down on her couch and started to cry again. Geez, she must be nearing her period or something. Usually she doesn't take what Ino says so seriously.<p>

"Sakura? Are you alright?"

Sakura jumped at the familiar, masculine voice. She turned around to see her best friend of all time, Sasuke, walking out of her kitchen area. Man, she must be losing it. She didn't even notice that he was in her apartment, let alone that the kitchen light was on.

Sasuke, looking concerned for his best friend, walked over to Sakura and sat beside her. "Sakura? Did you hear me?"

Sakura nodded, just now remembering that he had asked her a question. "Yeah, I'm fine." She faked a smile for her friend.

"Quit lying. And I know when you fake a smile, heh. Well, most of the time..." Sakura dropped her smile and looked down at her hands. "Come on, you can tell me, Sakura." Sakura shook her head and sighed.

"I'd rather not talk about it, Sasuke. It's kind of private anyways." Sakura could feel his eyes on her, concerned and worried. But she didn't say anything more. Finally, he just sighed and leaned back into the couch.

"I don't mean to seem rude, Sasuke, but what are you doing here?" Sakura asked after a quite a pregnant pause.

He looked at her again and smirked. Uh oh. That means bad news. "I'll tell you why I am here, after you tell me why you are upset. Also, I won't leave you alone until you tell me."

Sakura heaved a sigh. She wanted to know why he was here and why he seemed to be in a somewhat good mood. However, she was NOT going to tell him what Ino said about her. Hmm...Two could play at his game.

"Looks like you'll be here a while then. Dinner? I'm pretty sure I heard your stomach growl at least three times now."

Sasuke shook his head and laughed. "Well, at least I know whatever you were crying about isn't too serious. And yeah, I'll have some dinner. But make sure it's edible...unlike last time."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him before getting up and going to the kitchen. At least cooking dinner would help get her mind off of what Ino said. Sakura looked around the kitchen for a little bit before finding the ingredients to Sasuke's usual favorite of hers: vegetable stir fry, with tomatoes of course. She started cutting the vegetables, after heating the oil, when Sasuke appeared again.

"Aren't you eating?" He noticed that she only made enough for him.

"No, I just ate." Sakura replied, while putting the vegetables in the oil.

"Oh? And who'd you eat with?" Sasuke asked, taking a seat at the table.

"A friend of a friend's friend. And no, I'm not telling you any names because you'll hunt them down and ask why I was crying earlier."

Sasuke smiled, because that's exactly what he had planned on doing. "Alright, fine. But at least tell me what you'd like to drink, because I'll feel bad if I eat in your apartment while you're just sitting there."

Sakura put the vegetables in the fry pan before answering. "How about a strawberry, banana, and kiwi smoothie? By the way, you'll have to buy some kiwis because I don't have any. And actually, I think most of my strawberries are moldy, so you'll have to buy those too."

"Nice try, Haruno, but I keep my word. I'm not leaving you alone, until you tell me why you were upset."

"Fine. I think there's some apple juice in the fridge still...that'll do."

Sasuke grabbed the bottle of apple juice and two small cups. He poured the remaining contents of the bottle in each, making sure they were about equal. "Two glasses of apple juice and..." Sasuke then grabbed some ice and a bottle of vodka (which happened to still be in the apartment. He always knew Sakura couldn't throw away any gift given to her, even if that gift was alcohol.) And started to mix both drinks. Our poor Sakura didn't notice until he finished his sentence. "Voilà! Two apple-vodka mixes!"

Sakura turned and yelled at him. "WHAT! SASUKE UCHIHA YOU KNOW I DON'T DRINK!"

"Heh. Sorry. Forgot." Sasuke replied, looking not the one bit remorseful.

Sakura glowered while Sasuke took a sip of his drink. _Forgot, my ass! Uchiha...grr..._

"I think you better concentrate on cooking. It looks like its burning." Sasuke replied, completely ignoring the death glare Sakura was sending him.

"...good. You're eating it, not me." Sakura replied smiling evilly.

"I think we've been friends too long, 'cause that had no threat in it what-so-ever."

Sakura sighed and went back to cooking. "Just be glad you are my friend. I mean, I'm pretty sure I still have arsenic lying around here somewhere..."

Sasuke laughed and took another drink. Sakura finished the stir fry and told him to dish it, she had to go upstairs.

While upstairs, Sakura took a moment to calm down. She knew she still looked puffy from crying. She also knew that if they talked long enough, Sasuke could get her to say what happened. She decided to deal with the puffiness first.

She wiped off her make-up and put on some foundation. Still red, but not as bad. That was good. Now, to steel herself against Sasuke's questions. That would take a renewed will, which was something she couldn't form at the moment. So, she decided to use as little words as possible. Yes, that was good enough for now.

Upon returning downstairs, she saw that Sasuke was already on his second plate, and had downed a quarter of the vodka bottle without her help, although her glass was still untouched.

Sakura sighed and shook her head, but managed a smile as she sat down opposite Sasuke. "Keep drinking like that and you'll have alcohol poisoning in no time."

Sasuke just looked up and grinned before returning to his meal. Sakura felt a smile tugging at her lips, which didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke.

"You know, because I'm eating–..." Sasuke started, but Sakura didn't let him finish.

"Uchiha, don't even start. I've told you more than once that it doesn't matter if food is in your stomach or not, you can still get alcohol poisoning." Sasuke grinned, noting the 'Uchiha' instead of his first name.

"Well, if you're so smart, then you should have thrown away that bottle."

Sakura gave him a pointed look and said, "That had _nothing_ to do with what we were talking about."

"Ah, yes it did. The bottle contains alcohol, which relates. Plus, I got the last word of that conversation." Sasuke stated while smirking.

"...Just finish your food...Uchiha."

Sasuke laughed and did finish his food, but not before downing another glass of vodka. Also, being the gentleman he is, he even put all of the dirty dishes in the sink for Sakura, well, all of them excluding his glass of vodka and Sakura's untouched glass of apple juice and vodka.

"No need for thanks, my friend. I'm just a gentle soul like that." Sasuke said while turning around to face Sakura, who was shaking her head and laughing.

"Well, I don't know if you're a gentle soul, but you sure are something else, Sasuke."

"YES! It's Sasuke now! Not Uchiha!" Sasuke squealed like one of his fan girls. Oh, we'll give him a break for now; he is more than slightly drunk, after all.

Sadly for Sakura, she has to deal with the happy-drunk Sasuke. We'll see how she does.

"Sasuke, no more vodka for you." Sakura said while taking the bottle away from Sasuke.

This visibly displeased Sasuke who proceeded to pout at Sakura: giving her the puppy dog eyes, sticking out the lower lip, and yes, even begging her for 'just one more drink.' Sakura would have none of it though, and was determined to drain the rest of the vodka down the drain in the sink.

However, she didn't make it that far. For when she tipped the bottle upside down over the sink, Sasuke grabbed her wrist, righted the bottle, and effectively stopped her from fighting him.

Some of you might ask how he effectively stopped her from fighting him. Well, it's simple really. Sasuke Uchiha stopped Sakura by kissing her,

On

The

Lips.

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><p><strong>Yup. I know. Nice place to stop, ne? Hey, at least Sasuke and Sakura got some "alone time."<strong>

**Sorry it took so long for me to get up the next chappie. I really struggled with this one, partly because I know that this might be the chapter to set off the end of the story. However, we'll see how it goes.**

**Also, it seems a little dragged out to me, but I'll let you guys decide on if it was or not.**

**Critiques and Comments Welcomed!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ohayo guys and girls! Ready for the next chappie of Sakura's Heartache! I hope so :D**

**Disclaimer: I will never own Naruto. Unless...nah.**

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><p>Sakura's brain short circuited. It just stopped working when Sasuke's lips met hers. Luckily for all those anti-SasuSaku fans, Sakura's body knew what to do. Her free arm lifted to push him away. Unfortunately for all the anti-SasuSaku fans, Sasuke knew her too well and stopped it by catching her wrist.<p>

The bottle of vodka was forgotten by now.

Well, actually, Sasuke remembered to put it down (right side up) before encircling Sakura with his arms. And with both of her arms being free for pushing, Sakura managed to break the kiss.

Sasuke looked a little hurt when Sakura broke the kiss, which didn't go unnoticed by her, but she reasoned that he'll get over it.

"Sasuke, don't look so hurt. It's just that you ARE drunk and you're...dating Karin so it's not right for you to be kissing me." Sakura said after getting her brain to work.

Sasuke sighed and looked down in defeat. Sakura looked at him before asking, "Did you drive here?" Sasuke nodded in response.

Sakura closed her eyes and whispered 'of course.' "Alright, Sasuke, either I can drive you or you can spend the night in the guest room."

Sasuke looked up and grinned. "Not your room?" Sakura glared and Sasuke broke into a smirk. "Fine...guest room."

Sakura took Sasuke up to the appropriate room and let him settle in for the night. After, she went back downstairs and looked at the bottle of vodka. _I really should drain that...but...Nah. I'll drain it._ Sakura then looked at her untouched drink sitting on the table. _Yeah, I'll finish that though. I mean no sense in wasting perfectly good apple juice..._

_**-In the Morning-**_

Sakura woke up early to check on Sasuke...he was still passed out. So, Sakura decided to be a nice friend and make breakfast. While looking for some pancake mix, Sakura spotted some aspirin. She put the bottle and a glass of water on the table for Sasuke's sure-to-be splitting headache. Then, she returned to her search. After finding the mix, however, her phone rang.

"Hello?" Sakura answered without looking at the caller id.

"Sakura? THANK KAMI YOU ANSWERED! You know, I am so so SO –"

"Ino, just get to the point, or I'm hanging up on you." Sakura said, slightly annoyed with herself that she didn't look at the caller id.

"Gah! Fine billboard brow!" Ino huffed. "Look, I'm REALLY sorry about what I said. It's just I was mad that you interrupted my make-out session with Sai, then you got him to leave, and then you started yelling at me! I was touchy and I shouldn't have said that you were being an attention grabber towards our friends. I'm super sorry and I want to make it up to you." Ino rushed to get out.

"...make it up to me how?"

"Shoe shopping. I'll pay for any pair of shoes you want!" Ino exclaimed.

Sakura grinned. "You know me too well, Ino. Fine. I'll take you up on that offer. But call me an attention grabber ever again while using him as an example, and I won't let you use my love for shoes against me again."

Ino squealed and said thank you so many times that Sakura lost count. Sakura laughed at Ino's antics, and Ino told Sakura that she'd text her later with the details. Sakura smiled and hung up. She started pulling out bowls, spoons, and warming up the stove when a voice made her jump.

"So you were upset because Ino called you an attention grabber?" Sakura turned towards where she heard Sasuke's voice. He was sitting at the table swirling the glass of water.

"Y...you were eavesdropping?"

Sasuke smiled and nodded. "But, I must ask...who is this _him_ you're using to get attention from your friends?"

Sakura almost had a heart-attack, but then she remembered that Sasuke didn't know it was him that was being discussed. Taking a deep breath, Sakura replied, "You wouldn't know him. And I am NOT using him to get attention from my friends."

"Alright, you're not using him...But you could still tell me his name...There's no harm in that, right?"

Sakura shook her head and sighed. "Sasuke, I'll be honest with you. I just do not want to discuss this with you right now."

"Why's that? Afraid I'll harass him?"

"...why would you harass him?"

Sasuke grinned. Looks like Sakura caught him...almost. "I would harass this said 'him' because you are my best friend and I look out for you like that."

Sakura could so see through Sasuke's bs statement, but she decided to let him slide this time. Her stomach was really angry at her, so she turned to the stove and started making some pancakes.

"I'm making pancakes. How many do you want?"

"Eight."

"Of course you do." Sasuke grinned at Sakura's statement.

While Sakura worked, it was quiet. So let's picture this scene. Sakura's standing at the stove, making pancakes. Sasuke is walking around, filling up two glasses of water, pulling out syrup, plates, knives, butter, and forks to set the table with. Now wouldn't they make such a cute couple? Anyhow, Sasuke always has to ruin the scene so let's see what he does.

Sakura finished making eleven pancakes. She'll have about three, so she's hoping Sasuke's eight will be enough for him. Upon putting the stack on the table and sitting down, she noticed Sasuke was looking a bit confused.

"Sasuke? You okay?"

Sasuke grinned and thought _now's a good enough time as any, I suppose._ "Yeah, but uh, I had a question. Could you tell me what happened after dinner? I was thinking about it and I remember making the drinks, you yelling at me, us eating, and I drank a little from the bottle, but I don't remember anything afterwards..."

Sakura's heart fell, just a little (A/N: CoughalotCough). A part of her wished that he'd remember the kiss, yet the other part of her was glad he didn't. Sakura smiled anyways. "Well, after dinner, you were obviously drunk, and since you drove here, I had you sleep in the guest room. You fell asleep and were asleep for a while. Then you must have woken up, because you eavesdropped on my conversation with Ino. After that, you set the table, ate four pancakes so far and now we're talking! Yep, that's what you did after dinner."

Sasuke laughed. "Thanks SO MUCH for telling me EVERYTHING I did this morning, because, you know, my short term memory is going because I'm SO old!"

Sakura grinned. "Well, you really didn't do that much after dinner. So I decided to go into details."

Sasuke laughed again and said thank you for real this time.

They sat in silence while finishing their breakfast. Sasuke volunteered to wash the dishes so Sakura could rest. However, in the middle of that exciting job, Sasuke's phone rang.

"Could you answer that, Sakura? Thanks."

Sakura picked up Sasuke's phone, which was sitting on the table. "Hello?"

There was a pause before Sasuke heard Sakura say, "Karin?"

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><p><strong>Yup, Karin called. Sorry this took so long to get up. I actually wrote this chappie by hand before typing it. Yeah, but it's not bc I'm so dedicated. I just knew I wouldn't be near a computer for a long time XD Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And sorry if it seems like a little dragged out, it feels like that to me, but maybe it's jus' because I took so long writing it...anyways...**

**Critiques and Comments are Welcomed!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! It's summer, and that means quicker updates! YAY! **

**WARNING: There is an OC who will probably show up throughout the story. I know, you can all hate me now. Anywho, that won't change my mind so here's a summary of my OC ~ Kyoko.**

**Kyoko Namikaze ~ she's Naruto's older sister. She's around the same age as Itachi in this story (They're around 27.) She has orange hair that goes down to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her eye color is green in the Spring & Summer and blue in the Winter & Fall. She's 5 foot 5 and a half inches.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Jus' my OC.**

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><p>"Karin?" Sasuke dried his hands and took the phone from Sakura. "I thought I told you not to bug me while I was out."<p>

Sakura went to the sink to finish washing the dishes. She tuned out Sasuke's voice so he and Karin could talk in private. She finished washing and drying the dishes and then went to sit on the couch, seeing as Sasuke was sitting at the kitchen table.

_Man,_ Sakura sighed._ What a past 24 hours it has been._ Sakura leaned her head back and closed her eyes. _Just relax for a moment. Just a moment..._

"No, I am NOT!" Sasuke yelled from the kitchen.

_Uh-oh. He never yells...wonder what Karin – _

"She is not." Sakura looked towards the kitchen. They have to be fighting again.

"Need I remind you of Suigetsu? One of my band members, my FRIEND, and you're getting upset over –"

_Don't listen, Sakura, that's eavesdropping..._

"No, you know what? I'm not putting up with this shit. Don't talk to me until YOU'RE ready to apologize. I'm effin' tired of being the one to say sorry first. Bye."

A moment later, Sasuke plopped down next to Sakura on the couch. "No offense, but your gender sucks."

Sakura laughed. "Of course girls suck to guys. It's 'cuz you men don't understand the complex infrastructure known as the female mind."

Sasuke grinned. "Oh, please." Then he sighed. "Karin accused me of cheating on her with you. I explained that I just came over to tell you Itachi's coming back early, then I had dinner and something to drink here –"

"That's why you brought up Suigetsu? Karin said you were cheating..."

Sasuke nodded, looking angry and sad.

Sakura was silent but then, "Wait...Itachi's coming back early! No wonder you seemed so happy last night." Sakura playfully hit Sasuke on the arm. "Jerk! You shouldn't keep those things from me!"

Sasuke chuckled. "No need to get violent. And yeah, I talked to him yesterday morning. He's coming home in a month."

"Man, I haven't seen Itachi in years...Hey, since he's coming back, does that mean him and Kyoko are finally getting married?" (A/N: Kyoko, my OC from earlier.)

"I don't know. Possibly. I just got to talk to him long enough to find out he was coming home early."

Sakura seemed to think about this. She realized she hasn't seen Itachi for two whole years. You see, when Itachi was 21 he decided to join the military. But not as a soldier. Heaven's no, Itachi hated war. He joined as a medical personal. In fact, that's how he and Kyoko met...

Kyoko was assisting as a nurse and Itachi was serving as a doctor. They happened to be grouped together for multiple cases and boom, love. Unfortunately for Itachi, Kyoko's time of servitude was two and a half years shorter than his. So she stayed at home while Itachi continued on. They kept in contact and when Itachi returned from one of the tours, he proposed. Of course, he wanted to finish his time of servitude before the wedding occurred.

Sakura smiled at this chain of information. She would never forget how happy Kyoko was when she told Sakura of Itachi's proposal. Sakura almost couldn't believe that Kyoko waited two whole years. Now that's real commitment, real love. Real love...

"Oi, Sakura. Come back to Earth, would ya?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Sasuke. I was –"

"Zoning out? I know, you do that a lot." Sakura smiled sheepishly. "What I was saying is that Karin and her posse might try to attack you, so please watch out, okay?"

Sakura nodded, but then scoffed. "So Karin can sleep with one of your friends and you still forgive her, but you can't, what? Have me answer your phone without her getting on your case?"

Sasuke sat quietly for a moment. "Yeah, that's why I'm considering just ending it with her. She's been more of a pain than a blessing..."

Sakura's eyes widened as her brain processed what Sasuke said. Did he really just admit that he was considering breaking up with Karin? Inside, Sakura was cheering Sasuke on yelling "Break it off!" Outside, though, Sakura looked at Sasuke. "You're 100% serious about this?"

Sasuke nodded and looked down. "I lied earlier. I talked with Itachi a long time. But, you know him. He's always like 'tell me your problems.' So I did. I told him about Karin's and my relationship. How downhill it seems to be going. He told me that if she's not a blessing in my life, maybe it would be better to leave her out of it. And after saying that, he told me he was coming home in a month and not to tell Kyoko. He wants to surprise her. Then he told me he better go 'cuz the guys were getting pissed at him. He hung up, and afterwards, I decided to come here to tell you about Itachi and discuss what he suggested I do with Karin."

Sakura hugged Sasuke. It was unexpected, but Sasuke did return the hug. Sakura whispered, "I'm glad you came to talk with me about it, but I'm not sure I'm the best person to help you decide if you should break up with Karin."

"Why not, Sakura? I mean, you helped me out so much during the relationship –"

"Exactly, Sasuke. I'd be biased. I've seen your relationship at its worst and I would say yes, break up with her. But I haven't seen your relationship at its best. And that could make such a difference." Sakura's voice broke. She stopped half-lying before she started crying. She didn't want Sasuke to be even more concerned for her than he already was.

Looking at Sasuke, Sakura could see that he was weighing her words. Going over them in his mind. Seeing that she was probably right about being biased. But she could also see that Sasuke was relieved about Sakura wanting to end it. Two votes to end, which was what Sasuke was leaning towards. Sakura smiled. Sasuke just needed some time to think about it. To look over the pros and cons of this choice.

Sakura was about to get Sasuke a paper and pencil so he could write his thoughts down, when Sakura's message tone rang on her phone. Picking it up and looking at it, Sakura saw that the text was from Ino.

_**Tmrrw at 3. U free?**_

Sakura replied, _**Yea. Where?**_

_**Come to dorm room. Leave from there.**_

_**Okay, c u at 3.**_

_**Bye.**_

Sakura looked up from her phone when Sasuke got up from the couch.

"I should be going... Thank you, Sakura. I really do appreciate it." Sasuke said.

"You're welcome. But no thanks needed. It's what friends do. Especially best friends." Sasuke smiled at Sakura's automatic response. He's heard that phrase more times than he can remember.

"Yeah, I know. But seriously. You do a lot for me, and I'm grateful." Sasuke replied. Sakura smiled a small smile before saying see you later to Sasuke.

Sasuke left, and suddenly, Sakura's place felt a whole lot emptier.

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><p><strong>Whoo! That was work! Just kiddin' Tell me what you guys think about the new little info! <strong>_AND Do you guys want to see Ino's and Sakura's shoe shopping trip? Tell me and I'll do what you guys request!_

**One thing before I go, Sakura doesn't know that Kyoko and Naruto are related. Kyoko never mentioned a brother whenever she talked to Sakura, that and Naruto and Kyoko have two different last names, so Sakura has not put two and two together, yet!**

**Critiques and Comments Welcomed!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys next chappie!**

**First off, I would like to thank everyone who has added this story to favorites, alerts, and all those who have reviewed. You guys are awesome!**

**I dedicate this one to the dude who removed my wisdom teeth that made me do no physical activity for four days and therefore left me to start and finish this chapter and start on the next one! ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: No own Naruto**

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><p>Sakura knocked impatiently on Ino's door for what felt like the billionth time. "Ino, if you don't let me in, I'm leaving and you can forget about me accepting your apology!"<p>

"Hold on BILLBOARD BROW!" Ino yelled from inside. "I'm getting dressed!" Sakura sighed and impatiently tapped her foot.

After what felt like forever, Ino's door opened. Sakura muttered finally and went inside. "Sorry about the mess, Sakura. I had to find the perfect outfit." Ino said while kicking away her clothes to clear a path.

"It's whatever. So, I'm assuming one of the extra people you decided to invite is Sai?"

"Nope! It's a girl's afternoon! I invited Hinata, who invited Tenten, who invited Temari. Just us girls."

Sakura smiled. It's been a while since all of the girls got together. The rest of today was definitely going to be better than this morning.

-Flashback-

Sakura cursed as she got out of bed and hurried to the door. The knocking that had woken her up turned to pounding by the time she reached the door. She opened it, expecting Sasuke to walk through but was surprised to see Karin.

"Where the hell is he? I know he's here, so don't try to deny it!" Karin shouted, looking all over.

"Karin? Who are you looking for?" Sakura asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Oh like you don't know. I know Sasuke stayed the night again. So just tell me where the hell he is!" Karin responded, looking at Sakura with a mix of impatience and hate.

Sakura yawned and then blinked. "Karin...Sasuke is not here and before you interrupt, I'm not lying. Sasuke left yesterday at, like, 11:00 am. He hasn't been back since."

Karin glared, still not believing Sakura. "Then tell me, where is he?"

"I don't know. After you called, he left. He didn't say where he was going. I thought he headed back to your guys apartment. Apparently, I was wrong. Have you tried calling or texting him?"

"Of course I have you idiot! Who wouldn't have done that by now?" Karin was more than angry. She was enraged, and Sakura knew it.

"Well, how about you try calling him on my phone and see if he answers..." Sakura suggested, knowing full well that he would.

Karin huffed but agreed. She called Sasuke after Sakura retrieved her phone and handed it to the red head. Afterward, Sakura took cover in the kitchen, sensing that a fight was about to ensue.

"Sasuke, darling! Where have you been? I missed you last night!" Sakura heard Karin say.

_Ugh_, thought Sakura. _I'm going to eat a bowl of cereal so the crunching drowns out Karin's voice._

"I'm at Sakura's. You weren't answering earlier, so I came here to see if you were here. You weren't, so I asked Sakura if I could borrow her phone to call you."

Sakura's bowl was finally made, and she started eating it.

"I'm not. Darling, no..."

_*Munch*_

"I'm so..."

_*Munch*_

"Fine, I'll see you there, darling!"

Karin walked into the kitchen and threw Sakura's phone at her. Fortunately, Sakura has good reflexes and caught it before it hit her. Unfortunately, Karin sat down across the table from Sakura and scowled at her.

"Listen up, bitch. From now on, you'll be staying away from MY Sasuke, you got that? He only has enough time for one woman in his life, and that is ME! So stop trying to steal him away from me or you'll be sorry." Karin leaned back in the chair, looking pleased with herself.

Sakura put her spoon down in her now empty cereal bowl and looked Karin in the eye. "You honestly think that just because you told me to stay away from him, I will? He's my best friend, and I'm not letting some little girlfriend of his come between us. Your threat means nothing to me. And, I have a feeling that you're going to get what's coming to you very soon."

Karin looked astounded. Sakura hasn't ever really stood up against Karin until now. But her astonishment quickly turned to anger. "Shut up you bitch! I'm going to make sure Sasuke never talks, no, never even wants to LOOK at you again! That's a promise."

Sakura stood up and put her bowl into her sink. "Karin, I don't have time for this. Get out of my apartment."

Karin snickered, thinking she had won. Sakura saw her out, making sure Karin didn't do anything to her stuff.

-End Flashback-

"...and then we'll hunt for shoes!" Ino ended. "How does that sound?"

"Sounds great, Ino! But I think you should also relay that to Hinata, Tenten, and Temari." Sakura responded. She missed everything Ino had said but wasn't going to ask her to repeat it.

"Don't worry, Sakura. I will. Oh, and we're picking them up. And since I have a car that only seats two, can we pretty please take yours?" Ino asked with her best 'innocent' face.

Sakura rolled her eyes but agreed.

"What do you think?" Ino asked, twirling in a dark purple flared skirt that came just below her knees and a navy blue v - neck. She also had on navy flats and an amethyst necklace on.

Tenten looked at the price tags and made a face. "Cute, but way too pricey."

"Oh hush. You always worry about money." Ino waved her friend off.

Tenten huffed. "Yeah, that's because, unlike some people, I don't have it."

Ino looked at Tenten. "Well, duh you don't! You always put it into your savings account immediately! Like seriously, indulge every once in a while."

Sakura came out of the dressing room just at that moment. She sensed an argument was about to break out and decided it was time to show them her outfit. She was wearing a strapless baby blue dress that hugged every curve just right. It came down just above her knees. She also had silver bangles on her right wrist and strappy silver heels on.

"Wow Sakura!"

"Oh my gosh!"

"So pretty!"

"You're gorgeous!" were the praises her friends voiced. Sakura smiled. Mission accomplished: stop argument and pick out a good outfit.

"Well, who else is hungry?" Hinata asked at the exact moment everyone's stomach growled.

Temari laughed. "That settles it! Let's change, buy our outfits, and then off to the food court!"

The group decided to eat some Chinese food. After ordering it and finding a comfortable table, the girls began to chat and eat.

"Hinata! Is that you?" Said girl turned towards the male voice. Naruto was rushing over to their table, but stopped short upon seeing so many girls.

"Idiot, slow down!" The group turned to see Sasuke heading towards them with Neji and Sai in tow.

"Who are you?" Temari asked Naruto after the other 3 joined him. You see, Temari was the only one who hasn't met our loud friend yet, because she wasn't at the café with Tenten and Sakura, nor did she attend the Hyuga party with Hinata and Ino two weekends ago.

Luckily, Hinata filled her in quickly.

Now that Temari is up to date, the girls scooted to make some room for the boys.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, but his attention was on Naruto, who was recounting a story about one of his band gigs to Hinata. Sakura, upon looking at Hinata, noticed her friend had a blush on her cheeks and a bright smile on her face. Sakura grinned. Hinata likes Naruto.

Next, our pink haired friend looked at Ino and Sai. They were sitting close together. Sai would pick something off of Ino's tray and feed it to her. Sakura smiled. She would bet everything she owned that they were holding hands under the table.

Her gaze slid over to Neji, Tenten, and Temari. Neji had asked Temari about her brothers, and she was ranting about something Kankuro did to Gaara. Sakura looked directly at Tenten, who seemed to be half listening to Temari. She appeared to be more interested in her food. But Sakura saw how Tenten's eyes would flicker to Neji every once in a while.

Sakura stared at her own tray of food. She briefly wondered if that's what she did when Sasuke was around, glance at him without realizing what she was doing.

Well, Sakura learned her answer, because that's how she caught the Uchiha stealing an egg roll off of her tray.

She mocked glared at him, while he just grinned and took a bite out of it.

The meal progressed in much of the same manner and soon the boys had to leave while the girls had to hit up one more shop, for some shoes of course.

By 7pm, the five girls were ready to head home. Each had a new outfit along with some accessories and at least one pair of cute shoes.

Sakura dropped off all the girls at their rightful homes before returning to her own.

It was noon the next day before Sakura realized the cell phone she had, wasn't hers.

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><p><strong>Done! Hope you guys enjoyed this chappie! Next one will be up shortly, seeing as how I already started it.<strong>

**~VBS~**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Back again. I love summer. I get to update regularly! YAY! Anywho, thanks to everyone who's been enjoying this story. I hope I can continue to make it enjoyable :) Also Happy Birthday Sasuke! :D And since it's his birthday, I put his POV in this chappie, so look forward to that.**

**Warning: Spoiler? If you aren't caught up on characters you might not know one of the ones I mention in this chappie.**

**Disclaimer: No own Naruto :( Nor do I own Blink-182**

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><p>It was Monday afternoon and Sakura cursed her lack of observation skills. She was planning to call Temari so they could have lunch together, but when she looked through this phone's contacts, there was no Temari. She scrolled through the contact list and looked for Hinata, Tenten, Ino, even herself, but none of them were there.<p>

_Well_, Sakura thought, _I have two predicaments._ The first one being: where is her phone? At home? With the stranger whose phone she has? Or lost at the mall? The second predicament was finding the person who owns this phone and returning it. However, she didn't recognize any of the contact names. But, then again, most of the names seemed to be nicknames instead of actual names.

Sakura sighed, briefly wondering if she should call one of the contacts and see if they answer with "Hey (insert stranger's name). What's up?" But she decided against it because, honestly, there was a 90% chance they'd answer with some greeting phrase with no name instead like, "Whatcha need?" or "How's it going?"

Sakura sighed again. Her stomach was growling at her, and she had class in an hour. She decided to find the answers to her questions after her last class. After all, who can think when they're hungry and have a time limit? **(A/N: Ha-ha, genin bell test, anyone?)**

"What do you mean?"

Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, Ino, and Temari were sitting around Sakura's living room. Sakura had called them on her house phone to tell them what was up.

Sakura sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. None of them were getting it. "I lost my phone and somehow managed to get this one. It looks exactly like mine. Like, EXACTLY like mine. It's new and all the settings are on default. No memory card, no pictures, no customization what-so-ever."

Tenten furrowed her eyebrows. "That's why you didn't realize it earlier?"

Sakura nodded. "Exactly. All of you know that I just got my phone. I haven't gotten a chance to customize it yet. Otherwise, I would've noticed sooner."

Ino rolled her eyes. "I swear, Sakura, you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached. Now, do you know where your phone it? That's what's important."

"I think it's with the owner of this phone. I've called every store we went to, no luck. I called mall security, again no luck. And I've torn this place and my car apart looking for it. Nothing."

"I say we just call people in the contacts. One of them has to answer with a name." Temari said, eyeing the phone.

Sakura shook her head. "And say what, Temari?"

"Wait, that's not a bad idea. Come on, Sakura. We could just explain the situation to them." Everyone looked at Hinata. "I'll even call, but Temari can talk." They laughed at their friend. She still had some shyness in her.

"...Alright. But let's not do it tonight. After all, it's eleven. You guys can stay the night, and we'll call someone in the morning."

"Agreed." And with that, the girls settled in for the night.

~Morning~

"Okay, Temari, you call. You're the bravest." Temari rolled her eyes but took the phone. She scrolled at random and clicked on the one it stopped on.

She heard the computerized voice and then a short snippet of "Stockholm Syndrome" by Blink 182. When the song got cut off by someone answering, she was about to speak, but didn't get a sound out before...

"What the hell, Karin? I thought I told you to leave me the hell alone!" It was none other than Sasuke Uchiha's voice on the other end.

Temari looked over at the girls, and her gaze finally landed on Sakura.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. She didn't know who was on the other line yet.

Temari heard another obscene sentence being said by Sasuke before he hung up the phone.

_That bastard!_ She hadn't even said anything before he hung up on her! _The nerve..._

Temari snapped back to reality. Ino just asked who it was. Temari looked at the name she clicked on. It said BoyFriendFOREVER. Yup, that's Karin for you. She looked up at the girls. "This is Karin's phone. I happened to click on Sasuke's nickname and he answered with 'What the hell, Karin?'"

They all looked at Sakura. "How'd you manage to get Karin's phone, Billboard Brow?" Ino asked.

Sakura sighed. She explained to them what happened Sunday morning, before their shopping trip. She hadn't thought Karin would have the same exact phone as her, let alone switch them. She can only imagine what Karin had done with it.

"Well, you better go get your phone back." Sakura agreed. She'd go right after her next class, which started in ten minutes. She thanked her friends for their help before they all departed ways.

-Sasuke's POV (Monday at 5:00pm)-

Sasuke walked into the open air and shut the door behind him. Leaning with his back against the now shut door, he let out a long breath. He had finally done it.

His phone beeped, alerting him of a message. He ignored the message and instead looked at his missed calls. His phone had vibrated more in the last two hours than it does in the summer. Six missed calls from Naruto...well no wonder. He decided to pay his blond friend a visit rather than calling him back.

When Naruto's apartment door opened, Sasuke saw Naruto looking at him with a mildly pissed look on his face. All Sasuke could do was shrug. He went to one of the two arm chairs sitting in the room and plopped down.

Naruto must've sensed his tension, because all he did was sit on the couch and look at him, waiting for him to talk.

Sasuke sighed and asked where his band members were. He would rather not have three more people listening to what he was going to tell Naruto.

"Hmm...Well, Bee has a date tonight, which means he won't be back until tomorrow morning. Gaara went to visit Temari. And God only knows where Konohamaru is."

Sasuke nodded. That was good. He leaned forward so his friend could hear him better and explained to him what had taken place in the two hours Naruto tried contacting him.

After he was finished, he looked at Naruto's face.

"This is good, though, right? I mean, she was kind of a bitch..." Naruto trailed off, searching for Sasuke's reaction to his words.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, I've been thinking about it for a while. I talked with Itachi and Sakura about it; they both agreed that if breaking up would lead to happiness, then that was the best decision."

Naruto nodded also. He could see Sasuke needed to be distracted, so he suggested that they go play some music. After all, it had been a while.

They went into a different room which had Naruto's drum-set, two basses, one lead guitar, one acoustic guitar, and an electronic keyboard. Sasuke grinned seeing the last item. Yeah, he could play lead and acoustic guitar, but his passion was the keyboard and the piano.

Naruto laughed upon seeing Sasuke's expression. "Go ahead and use it. I helped pay for it, so I say you can use it."

Sasuke immediately went over to it and started getting used to playing again. When Naruto was situated with his drums, he set out a beat for the tune Sasuke was playing. They played for a few hours, before Gaara entered the room.

"Hey, Gaara! What're you doing here so early? Not that we don't want you here." Naruto asked, stopping his beat.

"Temari had to go help one of her friends. I'm guessing some emergency girl meeting. She dropped me off just now." Gaara answered, turning to one of the basses. He started tuning and begun playing. Sasuke joined and then Naruto.

Time flew by, and when Konohamaru came in shouting about noise complaints, Sasuke checked his phone. Geez, already eleven. The trio playing stopped playing. Konohamaru and Gaara went to their respective rooms. Sasuke looked at Naruto, an unspoken question lurking in his eyes. Naruto answered it by grabbing a sleeping bag and a blanket and pillow. He let Sasuke have the couch, while he slept on the floor by the couch.

In the morning, Sasuke was awakened by his ringtone. He glanced at the caller I.D, his eyes narrowing when he saw who it was. However, he did answer it.

"What the hell, Karin? I thought I told you to leave me the hell alone!" Sasuke said with aggravation.

He waited for five, ten, fifteen seconds. Silence that was what he was met with.

"Karin, if you're going to call me, and then ignore me. You can go f- yourself." Then he hung up. She frustrated him.

Sasuke got up, making sure not to step on Naruto. He put his shoes on and grabbed his jacket. He saw Naruto look at him with confusion and concern. Sasuke could only shrug at him. "I need to clear my head. I'm going for a walk."

-Sakura's POV (After her class, at Sasuke's and Karin's place)-

Sakura knocked on the door again. She had been standing there for what felt like forever, but was really just 5 minutes, and no one had answered yet. She contemplated just leaving, but she knew where the spare key was hidden, so she didn't have an excuse to leave.

She retrieved the spare from its hiding spot and opened the door. She heard something coming from the living room. She hesitated but went in.

Karin was curled up in a ball, sitting on the couch. She was clutching something to her chest. Sakura paused at the entryway again but went inside and seated herself in the armchair.

"Karin?" Upon closer examination, Sakura could see that Karin's face and eyes were red. She had raw skin on her cheeks, like she had been crying a lot. She was slightly shaking, and her hair was more than slightly mussed.

Karin turned to look at her. "You're not Ami..."

Sakura bit back a sarcastic reply. Karin looked like she needed help.

"No, I'm not. Do...do you want some tea? You look like you need it..." Sakura reminded herself that this was Sasuke's girlfriend. She should be nice.

"No. And you don't have to pretend to be nice to me. He ended it. Yesterday." Karin turned her back towards Sakura, and Sakura saw her shoulders slump.

Sakura just kind of sat there. She knew he wanted to break it off, but so quickly? She thought Sasuke had wanted to think it over more. Sakura had at least thought Sasuke would take a break from Karin before completely ending it.

"Karin, I know we haven't been on the best terms but just take the tea." Sakura persisted. And, seeing as how Karin said nothing, Sakura got up and went to the kitchen. She brewed her some herbal green tea. When she returned to the living room, Karin had moved to the floor, and she saw that what Karin had been clutching was a blanket.

She went over to her and crouched next to her. "Do you want sugar or milk?" Karin just shook her head so Sakura handed her the cup of tea she had poured.

Karin took it and started drinking it. She stared at nothing in front of her. Then, she spoke. "You win, Sakura."

"What?"

Karin turned to look at her now. "You win. You can have Sasuke. Don't deny it. I know you like him. I'm surprised that he doesn't know you like him. It's so obvious."

Sakura turned her face down to try and hide her blush. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Karin snorted. "Oh, sure you don't. You just steal glances when you think no one is looking, you hardly talk to any other guys when he's around, and you haven't even had a boyfriend that I know about."

Sakura stayed quiet. She was caught, and she knew it.

"See? You're not even denying it. Well, whatever. You win. Sasuke dumped me. We're over, done, through." Sakura thought Karin was saying it to convince herself.

"Karin..."

But Karin wouldn't let Sakura get a word in. "No, I don't want pity, or words that you won't even remember when you leave. What I do want is my phone back. That's why you're here, isn't it? To get your phone back?"

Sakura sighed but nodded.

Karin got up and went further into the house. She came back with Sakura's cell phone in hand. Then they switched phones. "By the way," Karin added after getting hers back, "I didn't do anything to it. I didn't text or call or anything to your contacts. Heh, I didn't really have a chance, because Sasuke happened to be here when I came back. Yesterday after he broke it off, I just forgot about it. So don't worry. Your precious phone and reputation is still intact."

Again, Sakura bit back a sarcastic reply. Honestly, she didn't care too much about her phone or her reputation, because everyone in her contacts list would understand what happened. She took a deep breath before standing up. "Thanks, I guess."

She didn't hear anything more from Karin after leaving the room.

Sakura cleaned up her mess in the kitchen, made sure she had everything, and walked out the door...and right into a male chest.

* * *

><p><strong>So, it's finally done! I think this is the longest chapter I have written yet! My word count says 2, 225! :D I hope you guys enjoyed. I'm sorry if I let down. I don't think the scene between Karin and Sakura had gone the way I planned, but it's better than its first version.<strong>

**Anywho, again, HAPPY B-DAY SASUKE! Okay, now I'll stop :)**

**~VBS~**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! I'm back after a long absence. I had trouble with making this chapter fit with the plot, so I'm very sorry for the delay! I learned my lesson hehe; I should really review my outlines before I start writing. Anywho, my cousin totally helped me out and figured out how to make this chapter work, so a big thanks to Robyn! Well, after the long wait, let's get on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not possess the anime/manga called Naruto.**

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><p>Sakura looked up to see who she bumped into, and lo and behold, Fugaku Uchiha was standing in front of her. "Ohayo. Sorry, Fugaku. I didn't mean to bump into you." At this, Sakura backed up a little.<p>

"Sakura?" Fugaku questioned. "I thought Sasuke and Karin were living together."

"That doesn't mean she can't visit her best friend!" quipped a voice that belonged to none other than Mikoto Uchiha.

Sakura smiled upon seeing Mikoto's smiling face. She's always loved Mikoto. She was like an aunt, no, like a second mother to her.

"I was just getting my phone back from Karin. Um, if you're here to see Sasuke, he's not in at the moment." Sakura told the Uchiha parents.

"That's quite fine." Mikoto said, while Fugaku moved away from the ladies' conversation. "We popped in to see how Sasuke was doing and to visit him for about a week or so. We'll just head inside and wait for him to come home."

Sakura sighed to herself, debating about whether or not she should tell them about the predicament inside. Making up her mind, she looked at both Mikoto and Fugaku. "Karin is in there, and she's a little more than not okay. I reserve the right to tell you what's wrong, because I think Sasuke would want to do that. So I would go get a bite to eat, or something, and come back later when Sasuke is home."

Mikoto seemed to consider this, while Fugaku didn't seem happy about what Sakura was suggesting.

"I don't mean to impose, but I need to talk to you about Itachi coming home. So may we come to your place until Sasuke gets back?" Mikoto asked, looking at Sakura.

Sakura smiled at Mikoto's request. She never minded having to spend time with Mikoto and, even, Fugaku. "Of course you can. My place is a little messy from studying, if you don't mind."

Fugaku decided to jump into the conversation at that moment. "You've seen our house at its worse. I'm sure we can handle yours if it's 'a little messy.'"

* * *

><p>Sakura showed Mikoto and Fugaku around her apartment before sitting down on the couch to rest. Her head was still spinning from her talk with Karin.<p>

"Sakura, darling? Are you alright? You seem a little…tense." Mikoto asked as she sat down next to Sakura on the couch.

"I'm fine, Mikoto. It's just been a long week."

"Already? My, my. And it's only Tuesday." Sakura smiled at Mikoto's comment because Mikoto was right. It WAS only Tuesday and already so much has happened.

"Mikoto?"

"Hmm?"

"You said you wanted to talk to me about Itachi coming back."

"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot! Thank you, Sakura. Yes, well, I'm sure Sasuke has informed you that Itachi is coming back in a month." Sakura nodded to indicate that Sasuke had told her this. Mikoto continued. "Well, since the spring semester ends in three weeks, I was wondering if you'd like to come down with Sasuke to help me set up a surprise 'welcome home' party for Itachi."

Sakura never knew she could smile so wide. "Of course I would love to come!"

Mikoto's face brightened, and she clapped her hands in excitement. "Wonderful! You can catch a ride with Sasuke if you'd like, or I suppose you could drive yourself. I was thinking of having it the night Itachi comes home, but then I wouldn't be able to invite Kyoko to it…"

"Well, I'm sure she won't be disappointed if she's not invited." Mikoto seemed to think about what Sakura said and agreed.

"You're right, Sakura. She'll be so happy that Itachi's home, she won't even be angry for not being at the welcome home party."

Fugaku sat down and nodded in agreement. He had just come from the shower and now looked more relaxed. "Kyoko won't care. As long as she gets to spend time with Itachi, she'll be fine."

Mikoto nodded. "Sakura, would you be able to come three, maybe four, days before Itachi arrives? That way we'll have enough time to set up everything without being too rushed."

Sakura agreed to come down early. Mikoto and her continued making preparations for the party, with Fugaku adding something here or there occasionally.

* * *

><p>"Oh gosh! Look at the time!" Mikoto exclaimed. They had been at Sakura's for almost four hours now. "I'm sorry if we've tied you up, dear!" Mikoto said to Sakura.<p>

Sakura just waved her off. "Nonsense. It's always great to talk to you guys. I feel like I never see you anymore."

Mikoto smiled and Fugaku lifted a corner of his mouth.

"We should go see if Sasuke is back. Thank you for letting us come over, Sakura." Fugaku said as he stood from the kitchen table.

Sakura and Mikoto both stood too. "I'll call you later if anything else comes up." Mikoto said to Sakura.

Sakura smiled and hugged Mikoto. "It was nice seeing you again."

Then, Sakura turned toward Fugaku and shook his hand. "Thank you for being so patient with our girl talk." Fugaku smiled and pulled Sakura into a hug.

As Sakura shut the door behind the Uchiha parents, she thought, _I wonder how their meeting with Sasuke will be after they find out he's no longer with Karin…_

* * *

><p>Sakura looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel, and she had a robe on. Her face was bare of makeup, and she had just gotten out of a nice relaxing bubble bath. She slipped into her fuzzy slippers and walked into her bedroom. Tonight was Saturday and, since she wasn't at the café, she was relaxing at home, having a moment to herself.<p>

_Ah, this feels nice._ Sakura thought as she sat down on her bed. She leaned her back against the headboard and picked up the book she had been reading from her nightstand. Just as she was about to start reading, her phone rang.

Sighing, Sakura answered with, "Hello?"

"You will not believe what I am seeing." Sakura's best friend said on the other line.

"What, Ino?"

"Okay, so I'm at the café you usually come to. I was all sitting here drinking my mocha when, suddenly BAM! A whole out fight breaks out. Total words flying, emotions rising, and stuff happening. I mean EVERYBODY is looking at this right now."

"Pig, please spare the drama and get to the point. I was trying to do something before you called me, you know."

"Fine, forehead. Right as I speak, I am seeing Karin _pleading_ with Sasuke to get back with her. Full on begging. And he looks like he is considering it! Can you believe that!?"

Sakura sighed. "Ino, thanks for telling me, but that is not my worry. We have finals in two weeks. That's my worry, and it should be yours too."

"Forehead! Are you even listening to me!? Sasuke is considering getting back together with Karin! That's a bigger worry than _studying_!"

Sakura bit her lip and looked down at her book. "What's being said?"

"Well, Karin is listing all these reasons about why they should get back together. She's totally butt-kissing too, but you know her. Sasuke is actually listening to the hoe, and…oh snap! I'm gonna have to call ya back!"

"Ino, wait!" But the blonde haired beauty had already hung up. Sakura tried calling her back multiple times, but after the fourth time, it started going straight to voicemail.

Sakura groaned and dropped her head back onto the headboard. _So much for tonight being a relaxing evening,_ Sakura thought.

Fortunately, as soon as she thought this, her phone rang. "Ino!? Why did you hang up on me?"

"Oh shush it! We have a little more serious problem on our hands right now. I'm driving to your place as we speak."

"What's more serious than…?"

"Tenten." Ino cut Sakura off.

"Explain."

"Tenten was at the cafe too. I was there to pick her up as soon as she finished her shift. I'll tell you more when we get to your house. I've got to go; otherwise Tenten's not going to stop freaking out. Okay? See you soon."

Sakura sighed as she was, yet again, hung up on. She wondered what happened with Tenten. Why was she freaking out? What happened after Ino hung up on her?

* * *

><p>Tenten hiccupped, and Sakura rubbed her back. Ino had still not told her what happened. She and Tenten showed up fifteen minutes ago. Tenten was crying her eyes out, and Ino was trying to comfort her.<p>

Ino sat down three cups of hot chocolate and waited for Tenten and Sakura to look at her.

"Okay, Tenten, I know you don't want to, but can you explain what happened? I only saw the end…"

Tenten sat quietly for such a long time that Sakura thought she wasn't going to say anything. But then…

"Karin was bugging Sasuke. I had just changed out of my work clothes and was walking by them to get to where Ino was sitting. I heard Karin say something about Sakura, and I retaliated. I told her off, and we were about to get into a fight but…" Tenten paused, trying not to cry again. "Neji appeared out of nowhere. And...and…" Tenten could no longer keep herself composed. She drew her knees to her chest, rested her head on her knees, and started to bawl.

Sakura resumed rubbing Tenten's back and looked at Ino.

"…Well, like I said, I only saw the end, but something went down between Neji, Tenten, and Karin; something bad enough to get Karin gloating, Tenten bawling, and Neji drinking."

Sakura's eyes widened, and she looked toward Tenten. Tenten had wrapped her arms around her knees, and her shoulders were shaking violently.

"Oh, Tenten…"

"I…I'll be fine. D…don't worry…about…m…me…" Tenten tried to sound composed but failed miserably.

Ino and Sakura were both silent while they tried to calm down their hysterical friend.

* * *

><p>~an hour later~<p>

Tenten had stopped crying and fell asleep on the couch. Sakura and Ino moved to the kitchen to talk more openly.

"So, I didn't tell you the whole story. I didn't want to upset Tenten more than she was."

Sakura nodded, understanding Ino's reasoning.

"Like I said, Karin was gloating. Well, she said something that made Tenten freeze in her tirade. Neji was standing behind her, and he looked…caught off guard is the only way I can explain it. Then, Tenten turned around and saw Neji. She looked back at Karin and said something to her. Karin retaliated again, then Neji spoke up. He spoke for a while and when he was done, Karin said something again. Tenten looked helpless and upset. I was about to go over there when Tenten saw me and hurried over to where I was. I could tell she was holding in the water works, so we went to my car immediately. I asked her what went down, and this is what she told me…"

**~Flashback to Ino's car~**

"Karin announced to everybody that I love Neji. While she said this, she was looking behind me and smirking. I turned around and got the shock of my life. I mean, how did Neji get behind me anyway?! He was just standing there with a shell-shocked expression on his face, so I turned back to Karin and completely denied it, saying she was crazy. Then, Karin said that I _stalked_ him! Like, yes because I so obviously have the time, energy, and will to do that!" Tenten spat.

Ino was looking at her friend, wondering when Tenten was going to snap and break down. It looked close to being soon.

"Then Neji said that he's having a hard time believing either of those statements to be true. If I really did love him, I would have told him. If I stalked him, he would have noticed by now. Then he proceeded to list why – if either of those statements were true – he would have a hard time returning my feelings! I could feel Karin's ego inflating. That's when I knew what she was going to say before she said it, and that's why I wanted to leave before those words left her mouth…"

"What did Karin say?"

"She said, 'poor little Tenten, looks like your tom-boy qualities got the better of you. Not even Neji, the feminine one, wants to be with you. Rejection's a bitch isn't it? Oh well, you can have a fun life being a lesbian.' If she had said that any other day, I would've hit her."

**~End flashback~**

"…and that is when she broke down crying."

Sakura furrowed her brow. "Tenten isn't usually that emotional though…"

"Yes, well, Tenten was abandoned by her mother at that orphanage after her mother admitted she was a lesbian. Tenten is touchy about those kinds of things, especially if they're directed at her."

Sakura nodded and looked down at the table. And here she was worried about if Sasuke was going to get back together with Karin. What kind of friend was she?

Ino stretched and yawned. "I'm so tired. Mind if I crash here tonight?"

Sakura said she could, and Ino headed to the guest room. Sakura sat for a while longer, drinking a cold glass of milk.

"Hey, Sakura?"

Sakura looked up at Tenten, who had apparently woken from her crying-induced slumber.

"Yeah?"

"Ino didn't see all of what happened. While I was walking toward Ino, I heard Sasuke tell Karin off. It was quiet, but he sure sounded angry. I didn't catch the specific words, but after he was done, I looked back and saw that Karin looked upset and had started to cry. So, if I were you, I wouldn't worry about them getting back together."

Sakura slightly smiled and thanked Tenten. "So, what are you going to do about Neji?"

Tenten shrugged and looked at the ground. "Tell myself to get over him. I mean, he said he wasn't interested, so why should I keep pinning for him? Heck, I'd be lucky if we're still friends tomorrow morning. Yeah, he said that he didn't believe Karin, but what if he really did believe her? Our friendship would be officially over…"

Sakura stood and hugged her friend. "Worry about it tomorrow. Tonight, you need some rest. Go sleep in my room. I can take the couch tonight."

Tenten waved Sakura off. "Your couch is a pullout. I can pullout the bed and sleep on that. You go sleep in your own bed. You deserve it after dealing with me _and_ Ino in one night." Then, Tenten grinned.

Sakura consented and breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes her life was more hectic than she ever thought it could be.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter is complete! It leaned more toward Tenten at the end, but I assure you Sakura has some major roles coming up soon! So…I want you guys to know that as of June 1, 2013 at approximately 3:00 o'clock this girl got her high school diploma, so you are officially reading a story of a high school graduate! :D Feel special? Haha I wouldn't either :p I just wanted to thank everyone who's contributed to this story and have helped me become a better writer. I am indebted to you all! So, as payment, I'll try to finish this story within the 2013 year! Thanks!<br>Critiques and Comments are Welcomed!**

**~VBS~**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, so this chapter has Sakura's parents in it. I know the 6****th**** Naruto movie introduced them, but I haven't seen it yet…I've kind of been trying to catch up on the episodes and chapters hehe…Any who, for those of you who have seen it, I am very sorry if I mess up their personalities. I looked up their names and a basic run-down of their characteristics but that is all I have to go off of right now, so gomen! **

**Disclaimer: Naruto? Twat?! I own no such thing!**

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><p><strong>-Saturday evening after finals are done-<strong>

Sakura twirled on her swivel chair as she examined her surroundings. Currently, she was sitting on a bar stool at the Hyuga's residence, supposedly enjoying their end of the year party. However, her ulterior motive was looking for Sasuke and Tenten.

Sakura hasn't spoken to Sasuke since before his breakup with Karin. That's a whole three weeks, and she felt...odd about not talking with her best guy friend. Sakura has a good feeling she'll spot Sasuke tonight. After all, he never misses a Hyuga party when invited. It was just Sasuke's way of confirming his friendship with Neji.

Tenten, however, Sakura isn't sure she'll see. In fact, Sakura hasn't seen or spoken to Tenten after what happened at the café. She tried to contact Tenten, but all Sakura has received is voicemail and no one answering Tenten's door. Hopefully, Tenten will be here, so Sakura can see how she's doing.

"You seem like you're looking for someone." Sakura turned to see who had spoken. It was Naruto Uzumaki, the boy Hinata has a crush on.

"Hey, Naruto. I'm just scanning the crowd, looking for faces I recognize."

"Any particular face? Or faces?" Naruto questioned. _His blue eyes perceive everything_, Sakura thought humorlessly.

"Um, Sasuke and Tenten. Seen either of them?"

Naruto thought for a minute before his eyes shone. "Oh yeah! I saw teme a while ago. He was with some girl with red hair. He looked like he was trying to get rid of her, but I don't know if he ever did."

Sakura mentally sighed. She was getting tired of Karin. "Where were they?"

"By the pool. I haven't seen them inside anywhere, so they may still be there…if you want to check." Naruto said as he watched Sakura get up from her position on the stool and walk toward the sliding glass doors.

"Thanks, Naruto! I owe you one." Sakura said before stepping outside.

"Yeah you do!" Naruto grinned, before heading off to find Hinata.

* * *

><p>Sakura let her eyes adjust to the dim lighting of the outside, before scanning the area for Sasuke. She saw a lot of people, I mean A LOT of people, but she didn't see Sasuke anywhere. Either he went inside, or he left – which one, though, Sakura was unsure of.<p>

"Hey, Sakura! Gonna go for a swim?" Sakura jumped at the sound of a voice being so close to her ear. She turned slowly, only to discover Tenten drying her wet hair with a towel and standing beside her.

"Tenten! I have been looking all over for you!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Really? I was out here the whole time, until it got too cold to keep going in and out of the water…"

"Err, that's not exactly what I meant. I haven't been able to reach you. Like at all. Where have you been, and what have you been doing?"

Tenten looked confused, before realization dawned on her. "Oh! You mean these past two weeks. Well, after the incident at the café happened, I threw myself into studying and working. I turned off my phone and took the battery out. I was only home to sleep; otherwise, I was at the café or the library. I am really sorry. I thought I told you I wasn't going to be available…"

Sakura shook her head and held up her hand. "You might've mentioned it, and I had just forgotten. Just please tell me that you're alright…or at least better than you were."

Tenten looked down at the ground and remained quiet for several moments. "I'm better than I was. Those two weeks being relatively alone helped me a lot. Don't misunderstand, I'm still in love with Neji, but I think I can manage to try and move on…maybe summer will help me out…"

"You really think so?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah…"

"That would suck for me…" Sakura's head snapped up, and Tenten froze in place.

Slowly, both females turned around to see Neji looking down at them.

"N…Neji?" Tenten managed to force out.

"Yes?"

"What did you mean?" Sakura had successfully read Tenten's mind and asked the question Tenten couldn't get out at the moment.

"Well…Tenten getting over me would suck for me." Neji answered slowly, enunciating each word he spoke.

"Explain." Tenten managed to choke out again.

Neji looked at Sakura meaningfully before clearing his throat. "I'd rather you recount it to Sakura later, Tenten. That way I only have to humiliate myself directly in front of one female…"

Sakura rolled her eyes: freaking male pride. "All right, I'll take the hint. I'll leave, so you two can talk. But remember, Hyuga, I'll be hearing this from Tenten personally later. So, watch what you say and how you say it."

Neji nodded, appearing to take what Sakura said to heart.

Sakura left Tenten and Neji to talk then pushed them out of her mind. Tenten would let her know how it went later. Now, Sakura focused on finding Sasuke. He hadn't even called after he broke it off with Karin. That was unusual, and Sakura was worried.

So, Sakura walked around the Hyuga manor, looking for her best friend with spiky midnight hair. But Sakura quickly learns that she should stop looking for people, because they always find her first.

Sakura turned as she felt a tap on her shoulder. She was standing on the staircase, heading back downstairs, when she felt said tap. When she turned, she found Sasuke looking down at her.

"Hey." Sasuke said as soon as he saw her emerald green eyes.

"Hi." Sakura replied. She was suddenly struck by his beauty and his voice. Gosh, she missed seeing him and talking to him.

"Enjoying the party?"

Sakura shrugged in answer. She wasn't one to come the Hyuga's parties often…in fact, she wasn't one to party unless one of her friends dragged her out of her apartment and forced her to come with them.

Sasuke smiled, and again Sakura was left in awe. "Guess you're not used to this kind of crowd, huh?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Sasuke. Just because I don't party every weekend, doesn't mean I don't know how to party."

Sasuke grinned and showed surrender by holding up his hands. "Alright, alright. I won't argue with that."

Sakura smiled and nodded. Then, both Sasuke and Sakura walked downstairs, back to the barstools that Sakura was sitting on earlier.

"I see you managed to get rid of Karin. Naruto told me that he saw her following you around."

Sasuke grunted in irritation. "She's been so annoying since I broke it off…"

Sakura nodded and decided to not ask about it. "So…how's it going? We haven't talked since before you broke it off..." Sakura looked at Sasuke and waited for his reply.

"It's been fine. I'm sorry I haven't called or stopped by to see you. I've been busy with end of the year stuff…and I wanted to make sure Karin and her posse didn't have a reason to come after you…"

Sakura nodded. "Thanks, and you're fine. I've just missed you, you know?"

Sasuke grinned and nodded. "Hey…I never asked but, you're riding down to my parents place with me on Tuesday, right?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke for a minute. She was confused before she remembered her conversation with Mikoto. "Oh, yes. If that's okay with you…"

Sasuke grinned. "Of course it's all right with me."

Sakura smiled at him, and they continued to make plans for heading back home.

* * *

><p>"Sakura! Open up!"<p>

Sakura rushed to open her door upon hearing her friend Tenten's voice. Once the door was open, Sakura saw that Tenten was grinning from ear to ear. It was Sunday morning, and obviously Tenten's talk with Neji went well.

Sakura pulled Tenten into her apartment, sat her down on the couch, and looked at Tenten expectantly.

"Okay, Sakura. I'm going to tell you what happened with Neji…"

**~Flashback to last night~**

After Sakura left, Neji dragged Tenten to his room – muttering something about privacy and how there were too many damn people there tonight.

Tenten grinned. She knew Neji hated it when groups of people he didn't like or even know showed up at the parties, but he never kicked them out. Probably thought they would be more bothersome if he tried to.

Neji cleared his throat, grabbing Tenten's attention. He had just shut the door to his room, and she was sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Well, here we are." Neji stated nervously.

"…You're not one to beat around the bush, Neji." Tenten pulled her legs up, so she was sitting cross-legged on Neji's bed.

Neji sighed and nodded. "Nerves can really change a person's disposition." Then, he sat down by Tenten and looked down at his hands. "I like you. A lot."

Tenten stared at Neji. Now he was beginning to act like himself a little bit more. "Elaborate if you don't mind, because I'm getting mixed signals. You said in front of Karin…"

"I know what I said in front of Karin," Neji cut Tenten off, "and it was stupid. I was an ass, and I shouldn't have said what I did."

"Then why did you?" Tenten hugged herself for two reasons: one, she was still cold from just getting out of the pool and two; she was physically bracing herself for Neji's explanation.

Neji was quiet for so long that Tenten thought he wasn't going to answer. Then…"I don't know. I was shocked, I guess. I didn't know you liked me. Hell, I thought you couldn't like me. At least, not in the way I like you. And when Karin said it, I was shocked…and scared…"

Tenten had been staring at Neji's door, but when she heard this last part, she risked a glance at him. He was already looking at her, watching how she reacted.

Both blushed and looked away from each other. "I was scared because I knew that I could have either pronounced that I liked you back, or I could have denied that you liked me and try to mend the situation. I decided to go along with what you said – about Karin lying. I didn't know that you were actually the one lying to save face in front of me…"

Tenten closed her eyes and sighed. "You've said you like me twice now. Is that the truth, or is what you said at the café the truth?"

"Tenten." When Tenten didn't look at Neji, he turned her face toward him and looked her in the eyes. "I like you a lot. I tried saving face by lying too. All those reasons I listed at the café saying why I couldn't like you back are actually the very same reasons that I like you…"

Neji didn't say anything else, because Tenten hugged him and that kind of short circuited his brain. So he remained quiet and hugged her back.

**~End Flashback~**

"We spent the rest of the night talking in his room, and I came here before going home."

Sakura let out an embarrassing squeal and hugged Tenten. "I'm so happy for you! Wait…so are you guys together now?"

Tenten nodded. "He asked me to be his girlfriend in a round-about Neji way, and I, of course, said yes."

Sakura grinned. "I'm glad you two sorted that out."

"Yeah, me two. Now we have to focus on getting you together with Sasuke! Now that he's single…" Tenten grinned and wagged her eyebrows.

Sakura shook her head at Tenten. "Whatever girl." But she grinned anyway at Tenten's words.

* * *

><p>Sakura stepped out of Sasuke's car and stretched. It was midday on Tuesday and a six hour car ride wasn't on her list of favorite things to do, but Sasuke made it enjoyable. They caught up on life during the trip, and Sakura felt like her heart had super-glued itself to Sasuke – and she didn't know if that was a good thing or not…<p>

"Sakura! Darling!" Sakura felt arms wrap around her torso before she could see who her attacker was. Looking down, Sakura got a head full of blonde hair in her face.

"Hey, mom." Sakura hugged her mother back after realizing who had ensnared her in a hug.

"Sakura." Sakura looked up and smiled at her father who was coming toward them with her mother's bag.

Sakura's mom let her go so Sakura could hug her dad. She hasn't seen her parents since winter break, and five months was a long time. She missed them like crazy and was glad she could spend a week or two with them. But little did she know her parents had different plans…

**-Later that night with her parents-**

"What?" Sakura was dumbfounded. Her parents wanted her to move out of her apartment and spend the summer house-sitting for them while they go on vacation? Sakura was quiet, mulling this news over.

"Why can't you take me with you?"

"Well, we know you wouldn't want to miss Itachi's and Kyoko's wedding." her mother, Mebuki, answered.

Kizashi, Sakura's father, nodded in agreement. "We heard a little rumor from Fugaku and Mikoto that Itachi's and Kyoko's wedding will be held sometime in mid- to late August. We won't be back until late August, and we know you wouldn't want to miss it."

Sakura nodded slowly. Since it was the middle of May, she could move out of her apartment before June and only have to pay rent until the end of May. She'd just have to tell her landlord, and she'd be set. Then, she'd come back to her hometown for the summer and "house sit" for her parents while they went on some long cruise.

"Alright. I can live with that." Sakura's parents smiled at her.

"That's great, honey! We're glad you're fine with it, because we already bought our tickets and getting a third one would be quite impossible this close to the cruise." Kizashi said laughingly.

Mebuki rolled her eyes and swatted her hand at Kizashi. "Oh, shush! We would have figured something out if she wanted to come with us!"

Sakura smiled at her parents antics. They were such children sometimes, but she loves them anyways. Looking at both of them, she felt her heart swell with love. She wondered… would it be like this when she was married?

"Honey, you should go to bed. You look extremely tired." Mebuki told Sakura. Sakura yawned, emphasizing her mother's point.

Sakura agreed and headed to bed to get some much needed rest.

* * *

><p>"So you're staying the whole summer too?" Sakura asked Sasuke. They were currently sitting in their favorite booth at an old café they both love, discussing their plans for the up-coming summer and eating lunch.<p>

Sasuke nodded. "Aa. I want to spend some time with Itachi before he gets married and moves in with Kyoko at her place. And living six hours away would make that a difficult feat." Sasuke smiled innocently. "Plus, that would mean we could still hang out this summer."

Sakura laughed. "Oh, stop with the act. You didn't even know that I was staying for the summer until three minutes ago. You made your decision long before three minutes ago, so my staying didn't affect any decision making on your behalf."

Sasuke grinned. "I never said it affected my decision making. It just made me happy knowing that you'll be here this summer too."

Sakura blushed and smiled. She'd never admit it, but she was always glad when she was the one who made Sasuke happy. "So Itachi is back in three days. Are you excited to see him?"

"I'm afraid he's grown facial hair."

Sakura was astonished. "WHAT?" But astonishment quickly faded as she saw that Sasuke was laughing at her.

"I was just kidding. I just wanted to see what you would say. Nah, he hasn't. He sent my mom a picture last month, and he looks just the same. Actually, I'm anxious to talk to him again. I haven't since he called me before I broke up with Karin. In fact, he's the only one who doesn't know about my breakup yet…"

"You're worried about what he's going to think?"

"…No. I'm more worried about him being angry that I didn't tell him…I guess I just wanted something to surprise him with."

Sakura nodded. "He'll understand. I'm sure he will."

"Yeah…I hope so." Suddenly, Sasuke's phone rang. Sasuke glanced at the caller i.d. before answering. "Hello?"

Sakura sipped the rest of her drink while Sasuke talked. She can't believe Itachi was home in three days, and Kyoko didn't have a clue yet. Sakura smiled. She'd bet anything that Itachi couldn't wait to see Kyoko. He'd probably be irritated by the "welcome home" party, but he wouldn't complain. Oh no, he would hang out patiently, and probably decide that he'd wait until morning to go to Kyoko's. He was just that kind of guy.

The sound of Sasuke's voice talking to her pulled Sakura out of her musings. "That was my mom. She wanted me to bring you home so she could steal you away to go buy decorations or something…"

Sakura nodded. "Let's head out then."

Both left after paying their bill and tipping their waitress.

* * *

><p><strong>I think I made Neji and Sasuke very OOC in this one…oh well! How did I do with Sakura's parents? I kind of chickened out and made their scene short…hehe. This chapter was supposed to be shorter than it is, but a trip to West Virginia and no internet connection forced me to make it longer :) Happy? Haha anywho, I hoped you enjoyed! P.S. a certain long-awaited character *coughItachicough* is showing up in the next chapter!<strong>

**~VBS~**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everybody, I have a question…does anyone read these anymore, or do you just skip to the story? 'Cause I was reading some chapter stories last night and I realized that after, like, chapter 5 or 6 I skip the top ones and continue on with the story. Then after a few more chapters, I start skipping the bottom ones. It depends on the plot really…Anywho, I promised myself I'd reform and keep reading all of them. Well, for anyone who does still read these let's get on to the next chapter!**

* * *

><p>Itachi shouldered his duffel bag on his left shoulder while continuing to pull his carryon suitcase behind him. He was well aware of the stares coming from all directions around him. After all, he was dressed in his military garb, and he was a considerably handsome young man. With no sign of a significant other in sight. However, he shrugged off the stares and walked toward his plane's baggage claim. Here, he would get his last suitcase and meet up with his family.<p>

He was eager in being reunited with them…and especially eager to surprise Kyoko. He missed all of them dearly and was glad to know this was his last plane trip returning from a tour. Then, it was married life for him. He chuckled, remembering how everyone at base camp made fun of him for actually wanting to get married. Some of the people at the base knew Kyoko, and they were glad to see them finally get married. Hopefully, most of them could come to the wedding.

Itachi snapped out of his thoughts as he saw his suitcase gliding by. He grabbed it and got out of the way of the crowd forming around the claim area. He started searching for Fugaku, Mikoto, or Sasuke.

He spotted Sasuke after a while of searching through hairstyles and faces. Itachi smiled and started to walk toward his brother. As he got closer, Itachi noticed Sasuke was also getting looks from bystanders. He had to smile, guess it was an Uchiha curse.

"Sasuke, good to see you." Itachi said as he walked up behind Sasuke.

Sasuke turned, revealing a girl with a headful of pink hair and emerald green eyes. Sakura came too.

Sasuke hugged Itachi, catching Itachi off guard a little, but he hugged his brother back.

"Missed me, brother?" Itachi teased.

"Shut up." Sasuke answered.

They pulled away and grinned at each other. Then, Itachi turned to Sakura.

"Itachi, it's good to see you again." Sakura said, while pulling Itachi into a hug.

Itachi returned it and replied, "Glad you could come."

After all the greetings were over, the three headed toward Sasuke's car. The drive home was uneventful. The three talked about what was going on in their lives and about upcoming events that were drawing near.

Pulling up the house, Itachi asked, "Why are all the lights off?"

Sasuke and Sakura shrugged, but were both inwardly anticipating what was going to happen once they walked in the door. They let Itachi go in first, and as soon as he stepped through the threshold, the lights turned on and everyone yelled, "Welcome home, Itachi!"

Itachi grinned and shook his head. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>As the party wound down, Sasuke managed to grab Itachi alone. "Hey, I have something I need to tell you."<p>

Itachi looked expectantly at his little brother. Something in Sasuke's voice just triggered his over protective big brother mode.

Sasuke looked down at his glass of Dr. Pepper. "I finally broke it off with Karin."

Itachi waited, expecting Sasuke to say something more. When he didn't, Itachi remained silent. Sasuke looked up at his big brother. Itachi didn't look surprised. In fact, he didn't even look mildly interested. Then, Itachi turned to look back at Sasuke.

"I'd be more surprised if you had finally grown some balls and told Sakura you love her." Itachi deadpanned.

Sasuke blanched. That wasn't even close to the answer he was expecting. "Don't even joke about that."

"Don't tell me it's not true. You look at her the way I look at Kyoko. It's love…even if you don't know it yet."

"Don't be ridiculous. If I loved her, I think I would know it."

Itachi nodded sarcastically. "Right. Ever heard the saying 'love is blind'?"

"That's not even what that saying means."

"Maybe it is, and you don't know it. Just like you don't know you love Sakura…yet."

Sasuke sighed. Winning a fight with Itachi was like trying to get out of Amaterasu after being caught in its flames…whatever that means. The point being, Itachi always won. So, Sasuke did the smart thing and gave up.

"Whatever. All I do know is that I broke up with Karin, I'm living here for the summer, and we have a whole three months to spend together before you become un-bachelor-ized."

"Technically, I'm not a bachelor. After all, I'm still living with mom and dad for the summer."

Sasuke grunted in irritation. "You know what I meant."

Itachi grinned and drank the rest of Sasuke's Dr. Pepper, which he stole out of Sasuke's hand. He then left his little brother to ponder the thoughts Itachi had left him with.

Sakura, after seeing Itachi and Sasuke finish their conversation, walked over to Sasuke. "Hey!"

Sasuke seemed not to hear her. Instead, his attention stayed focused on the empty glass that Itachi had set down before he left.

"…Sasuke? You okay?" Sakura tapped his shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, hey, Sakura." Sasuke was surprised to see the object of his thoughts standing right next to him.

Sakura smiled and shook her head. Looks like Sasuke was lost in thought. "The party's going well, don't you think? Your mother did a great job planning it, and Itachi seems to be enjoying himself, even though it's delaying him in seeing Kyoko…"

"Let's go out." Sasuke interrupted, effectively cutting off Sakura's chatter.

"…what do you mean?" Sakura asked while mentally telling herself not to jump to conclusions.

"Itachi won't miss us if we leave early. Let's go hang out…like we used to."

Sakura slowly nodded in agreement. She wondered what the heck brought this on as she followed Sasuke to his car.

Sasuke took Sakura to all their old hangouts. Sakura was happy, even if most of the places they drove to ended up being closed. Finally, they found themselves at the park. This park was special for two reasons: first, only the locals knew about it, so in a way it was a secret park. And second, this was the park where Sakura and Sasuke had met way back when.

Four year old Sakura was being bullied by some older kids when four year old Sasuke approached them. Sasuke told the bullies they were cowards for bullying a smaller and younger girl. He then took Sakura's hand and led her away. Sakura still remembers the first words he said to her were, "your crying annoyed me, so I decided that you won't cry anymore if you had someone to play with." They had played with each other until Sakura's babysitter and Sasuke's parents said it was time to leave. Every time Sakura went to the park after that, she looked for Sasuke and usually found him. Then, she would go and play with him. They were best friends ever since.

Sakura smiled at the memory, and at how cute Sasuke was when he was younger.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura and smiled too. She looked so breathtaking in the moonlight… _Okay_, Sasuke thought, _where did that thought come from? Not that it isn't true…_

Sasuke and Sakura headed toward their favorite place in the park. It was a good fifteen minute walk to their spot, but it was worth it. It was secluded, contained a crystal clear pond, and held many memories for both of them.

Sakura sat down by the pond and watched as Sasuke took off his shoes and socks, then dipped his feet into the water.

"Remember that time I dared you to strip down and jump into this pond in November?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

Sasuke looked back at her by leaning his head back, so she looked upside down to him. "Yeah. It was frigging cold, and I had a cold for three weeks after."

Sakura grinned innocently, and Sasuke smiled. "Remember the time I showed up with the guys while you and Ino were skinny dipping?"

Sakura groaned. "Ugh! Why'd you have to bring that up? I remember Kiba being especially nice to me after that…which freaked me out more because of the clay incident."

Sasuke laughed. "Oh yes. I remember that. I hunted him down after school, and I made him eat some…well you don't need to know about that…"

But Sakura's interest was already piqued. "You hunted Kiba down after that? You never told me that!"

Sasuke shrugged. "You never asked."

Sakura crawled over to sit right next to Sasuke. "Tell me. What'd you make him eat?"

"Sakura…"

"No, tell me right now, Sasuke."

Sasuke let out a long breath. "I made him eat some of the worms that we had to catch in biology class. I told him if he thought it was funny to have someone eat dirt, he should know how it feels to eat something that lives in the dirt."

Sakura hugged Sasuke so fast that he was caught off balance and landed on his side with Sakura gripping his shoulder. Both of them were very close to the edge of the water. "Thanks, Sasuke."

Sasuke grinned and wrapped his free arm around Sakura's waist. "That's what friends are for." But even as he said this, he thought, _friend huh? Maybe I should listen to Itachi and look at what I feel for Sakura a little more closely…_

Sakura reluctantly wiggled out of Sasuke's hug and sat up. However, as her body's contact was removed from Sasuke's, Sasuke rolled forward due to lack of support, and in a frantic effort of saving himself, he grabbed onto the nearest thing – or Sakura – however, this unbalanced her and both of them fell into the water anyway.

Both surfaced, gasping for air. Sakura looked at Sasuke, and he grinned contritely. Sakura shook her head and climbed out of the pond. "If you had told me we were going swimming, I would've brought my swimsuit, Sasuke."

Sasuke grinned and climbed out after Sakura. "Unexpected moments are the moments worth living for, Sakura." Sasuke replied.

He stepped close to Sakura, and she looked up at his angelic face. His scent enveloped her nostrils, and she couldn't think, only breathe and enjoy the smell of him. Almost unconsciously, she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. She felt his arms encircle her almost immediately. Together, they stood like that for an unconceivable amount of time. When they finally let go of each other, it was nearly two in the morning. Sasuke suggested that he take her home – or at least back to his place, so they could dry off and get some sleep. Sakura nodded in agreement and together they walked back to his car.

* * *

><p><strong>Whew! Another chapter is complete! I'll have everyone know that most of this chapter was written on my phone, and then later transferred to my computer. Stupid writing habits that come at the most inconvenient times :P Haha, so what'd you think? Like it, hate it, can't wait to see what's next? Thanks for all the support! See you all next chapter :)<strong>

**~VBS~**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! The story is coming to a close quickly! So keep with me! It's been a long time, and I'm excited we're getting to the end chapters!**

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><p>Sasuke stared at Sakura with his mouth slightly agape. Had he heard her right? Did she just say what he thought she said?<p>

"…_You kissed me while you were still dating Karin."_

Sasuke slowly shook his head. No, that was impossible. He didn't cheat, even on someone like Karin. But why would Sakura tell him this if it wasn't true? That wasn't like Sakura. Sasuke shook his head again and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was so damn confusing!

"Sasuke…you were drunk. You weren't fully aware of what you were doing. It happens…" But Sakura was cut off before she could finish.

"Not with me. And why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?" Sasuke inquired angrily.

Sakura looked down at the floor of Sasuke's bedroom. She didn't think Sasuke would get this mad over something so…in the past. What had made her bring this up again? …Oh, that's right. Sasuke had been teasing her about blushing whenever they were in close proximity to each other: to which Sakura countered with, "I didn't blush when you kissed me." Of course, that confused Sasuke, and Sakura was forced to explain the events of the night that Sasuke had forgotten about.

"I mean, you could have at least told me that morning when I ASKED you what had happened that night!" Sasuke continued on his little rant.

"…Sasuke. Try to look at this situation from my point of view. You were drunk and still dating Karin. Would you have told me that I kissed you while I was drunk and still dating someone else?"

Sasuke was silent. Sakura knew he would have done the exact same thing she did.

After a moment longer, Sasuke let out a long breath. Sakura was right. She usually was. …damn! Sasuke just realized, "Hey, Sakura. I'm not upset that I kissed you. I'm upset that I kissed you while still dating Karin. In fact, I'm actually upset that I don't remember kissing you."

Sakura's eyes widened, and she blushed. "Uh…I wasn't even thinking about that…"

Sasuke grinned. "There you go blushing again. And I just wanted to make sure I wasn't offending you."

"…Are you really upset that you can't remember what it was like kissing me?" Sakura's brain just couldn't process this.

Sasuke nodded. Then, his face lit up with a new idea. "Hey, Sakura."

Sakura turned her face toward Sasuke and immediately froze. He was leaning in slowly, and it looked like he was going in for a kiss. Sakura's body kicked in, since her brain was on a break at the moment. Her eyelids closed, and she leaned toward Sasuke.

But before their lips connected, they heard Sasuke's bedroom door open.

"Oh…hmm. Am I interrupting something? I can leave and come back later."

Sasuke let out a frustrated breath. "What do you want, Itachi?"

Sakura pulled away from Sasuke and opened her eyes. She was as red as Sasuke's favorite…vegetable? Fruit? Whatever the tomato was considered.

Itachi was grinning like the devil. "Seriously, I'll come back later." He stepped back and shut the door. Just in time too. Sasuke had thrown a baseball at Itachi, and it hit the door with a satisfying 'thunk' right after the door had clicked shut.

Sakura giggled at the brothers' antics. Some things never change, no matter how old they got.

Sasuke flopped backward on his bed and let out a breath again. He began muttering, "Stupid brother interrupting my plans."

Sakura shook her head and gazed down at Sasuke. He was terribly handsome. His bangs had fallen away from his face, so she could see more of him. His eyes were deep onyx pools that she wanted to drown in every chance she could get. His nose was perfectly shaped, and his lips... Oh, the urge to kiss him was so powerful that she leaned down before her brain could register what her body was doing. Sasuke looked at her quizzically before getting the hint. In turn, he leaned up toward her. The kiss they shared was sweet, innocent, and short. After pulling away, Sakura was blushing, and Sasuke felt confusion build up in him.

_What just happened?_ He thought. Sure, he was teasing her earlier before Itachi had barged in. Although, he had fully planned to kiss her then. Also, he had wanted kiss her when he figured out why she was leaning down toward him. But the emotion that shot through his body at that kiss? Where in the world had that come from? It was just a peck on the lips. Emotion shouldn't be running rampant through him with just that, should it? Sasuke closed his eyes. He couldn't think straight. His emotions were still running wild…and add to that another thought that had been on repeat after they had stopped – _Kiss her again._

Sakura sighed almost dreamily. That kiss was WAY better than the one he gave her in her apartment. In fact, it was way better than the ones in her dreams and fantasies. There was only one problem with it. It made Sakura feel scared. She knew she felt love in that kiss. But was it one sided? She didn't know. Sakura looked at Sasuke. He still had his eyes closed, but there wasn't a smile on his face like she was hoping. _Uh-oh_, Sakura thought, _it wasn't mutual, was it?_ This freaked Sakura out. She already knew she was in love with him… Did she mess it up by acting on impulse? _Man, Sakura, you should start thinking these things through!_

"S…Sasuke?" Sakura said.

"Hmm?" Sasuke opened one eye to look at Sakura as she spoke.

Sakura took in a deep breath, before hurriedly saying, "I'm sorry. I have to go home and have dinner. See you, Sasuke."

Before Sasuke could register her words, Sakura was off his bed and out the door.

_Well,_ Sasuke thought, _that wasn't the reaction I was hoping for…_

Sakura sat in her car. She leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes. _Maybe I over reacted_. She thought. _Maybe he liked the kiss but didn't smile because he was thinking about something…did he feel something in that kiss? If he did, maybe he was just thinking about that. Yeah, that's…that's got to be it…_

Sakura sighed and shook her head to clear her thoughts. Looking at the clock, she realized her lie had turned out to be the truth. She had better be getting home so she could have dinner.

* * *

><p>"Sweetie, is something on your mind?" Mebuki asked her daughter. Sakura had been staring at her green bean casserole for the last twenty minutes and hadn't even taken a bite yet.<p>

"Huh? Oh…sorry mom. No…it's nothing important." Sakura took a bite of her mother's cooking so her mom wouldn't worry too much.

"Sakura, if you need to talk about something, we're here to listen." Kizashi told his daughter.

Sakura nodded but didn't reply. She was hoping they would drop the subject. And her father did. But her mother was a rather persistent person when it came to her daughter.

While Sakura was helping her mom clean up after dinner, Mebuki asked Sakura, "Is it about Sasuke? I noticed you two snuck away during Itachi's welcome home party. And you came home pretty late. Did something happen?"

Sakura was silent, debating about telling her mother. In defeat, she sighed. "Nothing happened, mom. We just hung out. But something did happen today…"

Mebuki looked at Sakura, encouraging her to continue.

"We kissed. It was just a peck, but it freaked me out…I…I felt love in it but…I don't know if it was one-sided…I immediately left after it, and he didn't try to stop me…I'm just really scared and a little confused…"

Mebuki nodded as her daughter finished. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, Sakura. Men…they are strange creatures. Take your father, for example. One time, back when we were dating, we had a big argument. I told him to never call me again. I waited two weeks for him to call me or come see me and apologize. He never did. I finally got fed up and marched over to his house. I demanded that he tell me why he never called. He looked at me like I had grown a second head and replied, 'you told me not to.' Then, I asked him what he had been doing those past two weeks. He told me that he had written me a letter, apologizing for the argument, and he just returned from mailing it. I forgave him on the spot, without even reading the apology. The point of this story, Sakura, is to help you see that men and women think differently. Sasuke must not have stopped you because whatever you said to him must've made sense in his head as a reasonable excuse to leave, even after you guys had just shared a kiss. So don't agonize over it. I know it's easier said than done, but trust me. Maybe you should talk with Sasuke about your guys' relationship and sort out everything else that is troubling you."

Sakura hugged her mom and thanked her for the advice. She really appreciated everything her mom does for her. Plus, her advice was great. Sakura inhaled deeply and thought more about her mother's words. Yes, Sakura should definitely talk with Sasuke about their relationship. It scared her more than anything that this talk would ruin their friendship, but maybe it would be less heartache in the long run.

"I'll be back before midnight." Sakura said.

Mebuki looked at her daughter. "I didn't mean tonight, sweetie. Why don't you think about what you want to say to him and sleep on it tonight? Then, tomorrow you can have a talk with him."

But Sakura shook her head. "I want to get this over with…it's been way longer than you think, and I don't want to wait another night."

Mebuki just smiled. "Alright sweetie, just remember what I told you."

Sakura nodded and hugged her mom yet again. She told Kizashi she'd be back, and then she left her house and drove to Sasuke's.

* * *

><p>Sakura couldn't believe it. She had managed to drive to Sasuke's parent's house, pull in the driveway, and walk up to their front door. But just as she was about to knock, her conscious had suddenly started talking to her. <em>Is this a good idea? I mean, you're friends. Why risk losing that? If he doesn't feel the same, or is freaked out by you feeling that way about him, he might not want you near him. Think this through. It's a bad idea, and you should leave right NOW.<em>

Sakura closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Sometimes she hated the way her mind worked. However, just as she was about to turn around and walk back to her car, the front door opened.

"Sakura? I was just about to come see you." Sasuke stood in the doorway with his keys and wallet in hand. "Um…do you want to come in?"

Sakura nodded and stepped inside after Sasuke backed out of the doorway. _Okay, there's no turning back now…_

Sasuke led Sakura to the living room and sat her down. "My parents already went to sleep, and Itachi is at Kyoko's, so hopefully there won't be any interruptions…"

"Did you want to talk to me too, Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded and sat down on the opposite side of the couch. He turned toward Sakura and asked, "How was dinner?"

"It was fine. My mom had made green bean casserole."

Sasuke smiled and nodded.

"Can we stop beating around the bush, Sasuke?" Sakura asked. She didn't want to have to drag this conversation out longer than necessary. She was so nervous that she could hardly sit still.

Sasuke gave her a look but then agreed. "Alright. What do you want to talk about?"

"…Us."

"What about us?"

"Us, us. Our…relationship."

"I get the feeling you aren't wanting to talk about our friendship relationship, right?" Sasuke watched Sakura take a deep breath. He nodded, "Please, continue."

_Okay, Sakura. Just spit it out! Don't drag it out only to chicken out in the end. Just say it. Say I've had a crush on you since we met, and I've loved you since 8__th__ grade. Say it. Say It. SAY IT._ "…I can't do this. I'm sorry, Sasuke. Forgive me."

Sakura stood up to leave but Sasuke had also stood up to block her path. "Sakura…I want to talk to you too. I want you to go first, though. I've had this feeling that you have wanted to talk to me since before I got together with Karin. I always thought you were going to tell me, but you never did. Now you are willing. You can do this. Please. Tell me."

Sakura cleared her head and let out a deep breath. Okay. This was it. No matter what happens, she could and would do this. "Sasuke, I've had a crush on you since we were little. Almost since we had met. You were one of the only kids who was kind to me. You were my friend when I was being ridiculed by other children, and that caused me to have a major crush on you. As we got older, you became extremely attractive, and I was so glad we were friends. That crush became intense…I must admit that my behavior could have been categorized as stalking if we hadn't been friends. By the 8th grade…I realized that my crush had turned into love. I couldn't even look at other boys and think about being with them. I could only think of you as my boyfriend. But…you didn't seem to feel the same way about me. I've kept my secret all these years because I thought that if you wanted me, you would tell me. And watching you go off with other girls has been really hard on me, and you have no idea how much you being with Karin killed me each and every day. I wanted to tell you to break up with her every day. Every time you came to my place when you guys were having a fight, I really wanted to smack you upside the head and scream at you to ditch the bitch and be with me. I didn't though, because when you guys weren't fighting, you were happy with her, and I didn't want to take that away from you..." Sakura stared at the floor, praying that Sasuke would respond sooner rather than later. After what felt like eons of silence had passed, Sakura ended with, "That's all I wanted to say…"

Sasuke stood watching Sakura fidget with the edge of her shirt and watch the floor. His brain was taking its time processing all the information Sakura had just given him. As he slowly realized everything she said, his eyes widened, and he looked at Sakura in a new light. "Damn…I'm a pretty sucky friend, aren't I? Putting you through all that heartache, huh?"

Sakura glanced up at him. "It's not all your fault. I'm the one who kept it to myself until now. Maybe if I had told you sooner…"

"I wouldn't have accepted it."

Sakura's heart stopped, and she looked up at Sasuke inquiringly. He was looking right at her, and she couldn't read his expression.

"I…I wouldn't have accepted your love if you had told me sooner…I was…am such a bastard." Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and took a seat on the couch once again. "Sakura…when we kissed earlier, I wasn't supposed to think anything of it. I was teasing you to an extreme. And I apologize for the teasing now, but I've been thinking about it since then, and I think I…I feel similar to you. It's not love. …Not yet. But I do like you. I've been toying with the idea of dating you, and I can see us being together…"

Sakura sank onto the couch next to Sasuke and faced him, drawing one leg up into her arms. "What did you mean, you wouldn't have accepted it? My love?"

"I've only ever thought of you as a friend. Sure, there was maybe one or two times when I thought we could be more than friends, but I've never thought about it seriously enough. To be honest, if you had told me you loved me sooner than now, I would have freaked and distanced myself…I don't mean to sound like a bastard, but it is the truth."

Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was glad Sasuke was being honest-to-God with her, but she couldn't help but feel disappointed at his words. She suddenly felt relieved that she hadn't told him sooner, since her fears would have been realized sooner.

"So where does this leave us?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke looked her in the eye and replied with, "I want us to try it out. But let's make a promise. This…thing, no matter where it takes us we will remain friends in the end."

Sakura smiled a little and nodded. "Alright. I pinky promise we will remain friends no matter the end result." She stuck out her pinky finger for Sasuke to take into his own pinky finger, and the promise was set when Sasuke said, "And I pinky promise that in the end we will remain friends."

* * *

><p><strong>Pinky promises are serious stuff yo! :D I hope everyone hadwill have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I don't know when the next chapter of Sakura's Heartache will be up. College life doesn't suck, but college homework sucks, but since I have less credits than in the first semester I'm hoping for more free time. I hope to see all of you in the next installment of Sakura's Heartache!**

**~VBS~**


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